


Carry On My Wayward Children

by AkselAksel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Complaint-ish up to S15E13, Canon Divergent, Episode: s15e13 Destiny's Child, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, No mpreg, Post-Episode: s15e13 Destiny's Child, Season/Series 15, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:08:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 48,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26050924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkselAksel/pseuds/AkselAksel
Summary: “Oh, really? Because you're "God"? Even on Your best day, you couldn't force my hand. And this is not Your best day. In fact, I don't think You can do much of anything... So I guess You got what You've always wanted. You are on Your own.”Amara has had enough and she has her own plan on how to defeat her brother, it, of course, involves the Winchester's but not just the ones you know.Spoilers****Or the one where Amara messes with space and time in order to destroy her brother's prophecy by creating the next generation of Winchester siblings giving Dean what he truly needed most, the push to accept himself.This is a slow burn Destiel story featuring how I would have liked the season to have gone, there is angst and fluff and I promise that it will have a happy ending!
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 77





	1. The Light from the Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amara starts to put her plan in motion.

__

_“Oh, really? Because you're "God"? Even on Your best day, you couldn't force my hand. And this is not Your best day. In fact, I don't think You can do much of anything. Ah, a few parlour tricks, perhaps, but You can't leave this world, not without my help. And me? I'm done, Chuck. I've changed. I've adapted. I've become the better me. And You? You are still the same -- petulant, narcissistic. So, I'm leaving You here. Once, long ago, you sealed me away. Now, in a way, I'm doing the same to You. You are trapped, diminished, abandoned. So I guess. You got what You've always wanted. You are on Your own.”_

The words have been running through Amara’s mind on repeat since saying them to her brother three days ago, God, what a joke. God, supposed to be the saviour, the all-knowing entity who has the final say in all matters on Earth… and yet he treats his creations like the human Video game ‘The Sims.’ God is the ‘true darkness’ Amara thinks as her brother likes deriving pleasure from seeing anguish, pain and suffering, especially when it involves a certain brotherly duo.

Getting up from her seat, Amara walks over to her balcony and looks out onto the city, with thousands of people running around looking like little ants in the grand scheme of things. “You don’t even know what’s coming,” Amara whispers into the slight breeze, “the god you worship has essentially abandoned you, and for most of you, your current worry is what’s next to watch on Netflix.” Amara closes her eyes, feeling the wind against her skin and focusing on humanity's various noises down below. New York really is a fascinating human experiment.

Amara feels the warding she set up ripple as someone bypasses them; her posture straitens from the slouch position against the railing but remains relaxed with her eyes closed. The click-clacking of heals hitting the marble floor reach Amara. The new arrival had a signature walk, feline and graceful. Her stride measured, one stiletto placed delicately in front of the other, like a prowling tigress stalking prey. Of course, there was no actual prey in this case.

The woman walks through the apartment out onto the balcony, coming to a standstill beside Amara, her posture going slightly rigid. Amara opens her eyes and looks over to the woman; her grey hair has grown out some but still wearing her regular white blouse and grey business blazer. 

“Hello Naomi,” Amara says with a slight smirk causing the Angel to raise an eyebrow.

“You requested to see me? I can’t imagine why? Many other people could help you with whatever thing you have dreamt up. Especially since I was in heaven lockin in a cell until not long ago, I imagine you also had something to do about that?" Naomi staring at Amara questioningly, trying to gauge what they were truly up to. 

"Simply, I need your help, but first, I need to know where you stand and how much you are truly willing to give up." 

"Let me make it divinely simple for you; my role as an angel is to protect heaven. Our mission is to protect what God created, a mission that we did seem to lose a time ago, but one that I'm not willing to stray from again, you may be his balance to the universe Amara, but I don't answer to you, even if you got me out of jail." Naomi stood firm, her eyes locked on to Amara's frame but was startled when Amara let out an exasperated laugh. 

"That's exactly what I'm asking you to do, Naomi, protect what God created, only this time you're protecting it from God himself. I'm not sure exactly when my brother lost his way, but he's become more and more narcissistic as time has gone on; something about this universe has pushed his buttons, pushing him to break." Amara paused, looking back out onto the New York streets below. 

"I've come to be comfortable here, enjoying what humans have created, surprising myself that I don't want to see it destroyed. What my brother made… it’s beautiful. It took me a long time to see that. There is something different about this one, of my brother's many experiments, at its core is different. I truly think that it's free will, which has always been one of God's staples, but free will in this universe, the last universe now, is more true and has gotten away from my brother's control." Amara's tone was soft, but there was a passion in her words. 

Naomi opened her mouth but then closed it, taking a moment to think, "but how can you say that, and what could I possibly do that you can't?" A bitter smile crosses Amara's face as she turns back to look at Naomi. 

"God created free will. That means creatures that can either choose wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong, but I can't. If a thing is free to be good, it's also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata -of creatures that worked like machines- would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight. The most rapturous love between two people on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that, they've got to be free." Amara paused and sighed, looking a little defeated, high contrast to what she was like only a few short years ago. 

"At least that was the true intention, for there to be balanced in the universe, light and dark, but my brother has been focused on the darkness wanting to destroy and watch the world burn in its entirety instead of creating and watching things grow. My brother is treating freedom like it's a length of rope, and he wants humanity to hang itself with it."

Naomi's eyes widen as Amara continues to talk, "simply my brother needs to be stopped, and while I am part of that solution, I cannot do it on my own, and we need the element of surprise which we can now utilize now that my brother is going off script so to speak. I need you because you truly care about God's creations, but you have also have redeemed yourself in the eyes of the Winchester's or rather in the eyes of Castiel, which will be good enough for the brothers. I need someone who understands that the Winchester's are important; they are destructive, yes, but my brother also has had an obsession with them, making them a crucial piece of the puzzle moving forward. Most importantly, I need a strong and capable angel that can do this on their own, who is willing to make the ultimate sacrifices to ensure this mission is completed and that the timeline won't be impacted drastically; this is not something that can be solely fixed by changing the past, it needs to be fixed at a future point. You know God lied to you; you have given everything for him, done everything asked of you, and for what? You aren't the only Naomi that has existed; I am asking you to protect the creation that my brother once held dear because frankly, there isn't anyone else that I can turn to." 

"What about other angels? You talk about the Winchester's; why not choose Castiel for your plan? If the Winchester's are that important, why not go right to the source and use the angel already directly aligned to them." Naomi questioned, still confused about what this plan actually entails as really there hasn't been much information given up until this point. 

"There are not as many angels now as there once were, and Castiel, while maybe the more suited choice, is not powerful enough, and quite frankly, I cannot see him willing to leave the Winchester's side, especially Dean. You know, I tried to create a bond between Dean and myself originally. Still, he could fight off everything I threw at him even as a cosmic being with god-like power; after reflection and understanding their dynamics, I understand now that it was Castiel that prevented Dean from succumbing to my power. I don't know exactly what Castiel's role will be in the end, but I know enough that he is central to this plot in more ways than one; he wouldn't have the stomach, however, to do what is necessary. Besides, I know that death has her own plan that involves Lucifer's son, which won't be enough power on its own," Amara looks sharply at Naomi. " Before I continue, I need to know if you are in or out because once you're in, there is no turning back or changing your mind; also, I feel I must warn you that this might mean your demise in the future." 

Naomi looks contemplative, Amara's words running through her mind. Does she dare to take Amara on her word without knowing what that actually means? Going over Amara's words, and Amara is right; she is one of the remaining strong Angels and, even without knowing the plan, understands that she is one of the only angels available with enough power to do something drastic. She thinks about Castiel, they of course of come to an understanding of sorts the last time they saw one another and how wrong she was all those years ago. Naomi almost laughs to herself at the irony. Years ago, she attempted to get Castiel to kill Dean Winchester and saw the elder Winchester as her brother's weakness that must be destroyed. 

Naomi steeled herself against Amara's strong gaze before replying, "What did you have in mind?"

* * *

Have fun in Rio! Dean yells at his and Sam's doppelgangers as they run up the stairs of the bunker. 

Dean then walks the bunker's halls until he sees Sam leaning against the wall with one of his feet up, starring at one of the doors. 

"Is the kid okay?" Dean asks Sam as he continues to walk closer before coming to a stop beside his brother. 

"I don't know," Sam mumbles, eyes not leaving the door in from of him. 

Suddenly the door opens, and Castiel walks out of the room, sighing, closing the door behind him with a thud. 

"He seems to have recovered," Cas tells the brothers. 

"So... Jack's back?" Dean questions. 

"Ya, he is," Cas confirms, "but um.. somethings different, Jack is ah, well, he's been to the garden that's the crossroads of divinity and humanity nobody has been there since the exile, till now, till Jack." 

Both Dean and Sam take a breath, and Cas looks them both over before opening the door to where Jack is with the brothers following close behind. The three of them stop in front of the table where Jack is sitting hunched over with his head tilted down, looking upset. 

"Hey, Jack, how are you doing?" Asks Sam. 

Jack coughs with tears in his eyes, not looking up, "I'm so sorry," Jack whispers, refusing to meet their eyes. 

"You what?" Dean questions, confusion crossing his face. 

"Why didn't I get it? Jack asks, finally looking at the brothers, "I mean, my mother died too; why didn't I understand?" Jack pauses, and the brothers look taken aback. "It was my fault," Jack whispers as he starts to cry harder. 

"Jack..." Dean starts but then stops to look at Cas. 

"His soul is back." Cas states as he Dean and Sam continue to look at Jack crying. 

Looking at the brother's, Jack whispers, "Please forgive me." Dean and Sam continue to look at him but with a more sombre look on their faces. Nobody said anything; the room was silent other than Jacks' sobs he was trying to muffle. 

Jack started to ramble."I loved her, I tried to bring her back even, but I didn't understand, I didn't feel grief or sadness when she died, how can I deal with knowing that? She cared for me, she freaking believed in me, and I still hurt her. I'm the one that lost my soul; I should have been dead and stayed dead; Mary should be here instead of me; she once told me I was kind of like a son and a grandson combined because the family tree was confusing; I don't deserve to be called either of those things I didn't deserve any of the love she felt for me."

"That's enough," Dean demanded, his voice rough, startling Jack. 

Dean moves forward before anyone had time to do anything and pulls Jack into a tight hug, surprising everyone in the room, including himself. The swirling emotions in Dean were things he didn't want to deal with right now, agony, grief, sorrow, and anger. But the anger wasn't with Jack; he wishes he can blame Jack because that would be a simple, and easy way to place all the blame on someone, but Dean's angry at Chuck, at God's stupid game treating his god damn life like a video game, resulting in him growing to hate his own son. 

Because that is what Jack is to him, no matter how much he likes to deny it in his head. Jack has been a constant dollar coaster for Dean, having blamed him for Cas' death right off the back and threatening to kill him as well. To coming to like the kid over time to wanting to be the one to kill him after Mary dies. He wanted and was willing to kill the boy he saw as his son despite believing that family meant everything to him. He had momentarily turned into his father, his Dad had been prepared to kill Sam, his own son, if he had to because of the Demon Blood, and in turn, Dean wanted to put his own son down because he had lost his soul and couldn't control powers that no one else on earth had. Dean's stomach was churning uncomfortably. 

Dean missed his mother, has had nightmares of her death since it happened, yet he knew, he knew deep in his bones that Mary wouldn't even hesitate to forgive Jack for what he'd done because she had loved him too and would recognize that it wasn't his fault. Forgiveness, of course, forgiveness is complicated because can you ever truly forgive an action that caused you such pain, but this wasn't just another person. It was his son, who was his responsibility. Instead of finding the courage to deal with that responsibility, he decided to take the easy way out and choose to believe the right course of action was killing his own son. That is what should be unforgivable. 

The room was currently at a standstill with Jack having gone rigid as soon as Dean hugged him, confused by the action, and Sam and Cas were watching the scene unfold, continuing to be surprised by Dean's out of character actions. 

Dean pulled back to look Jack in the eyes, only noticing then that he too had started to cry, but he pushed forwards thinking of the words he prayed to another celestial being not too long ago. 

"Of course, I forgive you, Jack." Dean choked out a whisper. Sam gasped softly somewhere beside him, and although Dean couldn't see it, he knew Cas was looking at him with that look, the look of admiration which becomes more intense as Dean continues to say all too familiar words. 

"I get really angry, and I still don't know how or why I get so angry, but I'm working on it." Dean's eyes flicked to look at Cas momentarily before continuing, "When things go bad, it comes out, and I blamed a lot on you didn't have your soul and lost control, something that I should have seen coming, and I should have been paying attention. I was in the wrong, I was wrong, and I should have been more involved and taken more care because the case and point kid you are family and family don't give up on family." Dean finishes and just looks at Jack. 

Jack still looks like he's in shock, and Dean's cheeks are wet with tears; Dean leans back in for another hug, and this time Jack hugs back and clings to Dean. Dean doesn't tell the kid he loves him, but he doesn't need to love conveyed through other words and actions. 

Jack is still clinging to Dean as Sam finally finds his voice. 

" Jack, we've all done bad things, most of the time, without truly knowing what we were doing. I've started the apocalypse, and I've been addicted to demon blood, I've been soulless, I've been possessed, I've said yes to Lucifer, and a lot more shit. Dean's sold his soul, been to hell in all that entails, took Cain's mark and suffered the consequences, and said yes to Michael. Hell, Cas even tried to be God at one point and has trusted the wrong people; we all have, we have all made mistakes, and we all have blood on our hands. But we have forgiven each other for all of that because we're family, and we understand the reasons for the actions taken, whether they were done consciously or not. I forgive you, Jack, I love you, kid." 

Dean clutched onto Jack through Sam's speech, mirroring Jack's strength in their hug. Sam, Jack and Dean were all crying now; Cas even had tear's in his eyes, signalling how emotionally charged the room was but also alluding to the state of his vessel. 

Dean slowly began to let Jack go and eventually helped Jack stand up fully before slightly stepping aside to let Sam tower over Jack and pull him into a fierce hug. Sam then whispered something into Jack's here that was indistinguishable to the dean's ear, but Jack started to relax. 

Sam pulled back from Jack but gave him a watery smile looking down at the Nephilim. Sam stood up straighter as he took a step back to let Jack have some personal space but continued to smile at the boy. 

Jack looks at each of the men standing in the room, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to formulate a sentence that would be appropriate for this moment, but nothing comes out. 

"Jack, it's okay; you don't need to say anything right now." Cas whisper to the child. 

Jack nods in response, trying to convert that he's grateful. 

"You look like you need some sleep," Sam commented. 

"Jack, why don't you go with Cas back to your room and try to get some rest? I promise that we can talk more in the morning if you want, but if you don't want to, that's fine too." Dean says again as he straightens up Jack's jacket. 

Jack nodded again and allowed himself to be steered out of the room by Cas, heading towards his bedroom. 

Suddenly Dean tenses, afraid that Sam will take this moment to start a heart to heart moment, but he doesn't. Sam's face shows slight astonishment, no doubt in response to Dean's words and actions, but there is a slight smile and a smile conveying pride. 

"I'm going to go have a drink," Dean says to the room and briskly walks out of the room, walking towards the War room with Sam following close behind.

* * *

With the plan basically laid out, now everything just needs to be set in motion. Amara led Naomi through the penthouse to the library. The spacious, square bedroom converted into what looks like a witches den has coordinating wooden furniture. The floor is mahogany hardwood, and the walls are painted with various sigils and decorated with a wallpaper border that is almost glowing with magic. Light is provided by floor lamps and a crystal chandelier, which seems just over the top for the space in question. Overall, the room has a fairytale-like look to it, and among the first things one notices walking in are the various book, magical objects, and ingredients taking up every shelf and flat surface in the room. 

"I have everything set aside for you to take with you, don't worry about everything fitting knowing a witch or two does have its benefits in the long run." Amara states as she strides into the room, Naomi following close behind. Amara gestures to a suitcase beside one of the circular tables in the room, "that suitcase has been enchanted to fit everything that you may need for the duration of this mission; of course, there may be things you need to source yourself, but this should at least provide some comfort for yourself and the children as they grow up. Think of it like Mary Poppins bag if you will, if you understand that reference, I've been watching Disney movies in my free time, or at least I was before my brother set 'the end' in motion." Amara continues forward to the table covered in various objects. Amara picks up one of the talismans and gently places it over Naomi's head. 

"This has been worked on my some of the most powerful witches alive and also myself, this talisman will block you from prying eyes including other angels, demons and even god, the power, unfortunately, is only good for 90 days from this point but will work retroactively as it is date specific not day-specific meaning that the talismans will continue to work when you travel to the past and the alternate universe. Magic can be a frustrating thing at times." Amara tells Naomi as the latter looks down at the jewelry now lying across their chest. 

Naomi glances back towards the table and sees something strange, "why are there three other talismans? I assume one for each child, but what about the extra one?"

Amara slightly hesitates, "it's insurance in case you need to bring someone else you trust into the fold later on if you think you won't be able to continue to complete this mission in it's entire. You will only have a certain amount of grace with you when you travel to the past; there is a vial of accumulated grace of yours in a vial already in the suitcase, don't ask how I acquired it, but it will provide one full power boost when you get to the alternate universe, but then that's it. After that, you will be cut off from heaven as you won't be able to reach the one in the alternate universe; I honestly don't know how long the grace will last, I estimate that if you are frugal with it, you will have until the date the children need to return to this world. I know this is a lot to ask, but it's the only way. The talisman will also work for Nephilim do with that information what you will." Amara emphasizes that final sentence. 

Naomi nod's as an angel making the ultimate sacrifice is a no-brainer. Amara then moves on to explain the rest of the items on the table, picking them up as she goes. A Nephilim heart and an anti-christ heart, along with a coin from the correct alternate universe to be destroyed together to create the rift to the other world; a medallion which will ensure the journey back to this world on May 18th, 2017; the coordinates to an abandoned men of letter's safe house for their return in 2017; a copy of John's journal with Sam and Dean's edits for the children to go over as they get older; some currency; piles of educational material on monsters, demons, magic, and angels; a small photo album with photo's of Dean, Sam, Mary, John, Bobby, Castiel and even Jack; a survival guide of ingredients for spells, hex bags and potions; various weapons to defeat monsters, demons and other angels which leaves two things left on the table.

Naomi reaches out to pick up the amulet resting on the table, "how did you get this? Last I heard, it was still in the Winchester's possession. Actually, how did you get any of these things?" Naomi side-eyed Amara. 

"I have my ways, also being an entity with godly power has its perks, I have the power to source these materials, but I've also had help, I've had to wipe their memories, of course, can't have people wandering around with pieces of the plot to destroy God floating around in their heads." Amara paused but continued, " that amulet will be vital in gaining the Winchester's trust, but it is also a failsafe regarding keeping the children away from my brother for as long as possible, the amulet will still glow bright when in his presence, so if that happens you and the children know to get as far away from an area as possible." Amara takes the amulet from Naomi and packs it away with the rest of the items. 

Naomi stares at the last item, "Is this really necessary?" Naomi asks with slight disdain in her voice, her stare turning into a slight glare at the box of books on the table.

"The Winchester Gospels are important; they are the original story that my brother planned for this universe, once Dean and Sam are born that is, they have important information on how the world got to this point in time, although I should mention that even with my brother continuing to write the books these only go up to the night Lucifer's son is born." Amara then smiled at Naomi, "the children also might want to know where they come from and start a familial connection to family members they won't even get to meet until they are in their twenties and about to save the world." Amara took another pause, "although you should probably tell them to skip certain parts, there is only so much that children want to know about their parents, humans become weird when sex is involved." Amara then chuckles to herself for a moment before becoming more serious. 

Amara closes the suitcase and walks past Naomi for a moment to snatch a piece of paper with what looks like writing on it, Enochian, Naomi realizes belatedly. 

"There are two spells here; the first is one to wipe my memory of this entire plot that way Chuck can never find out about what is about to happen, I'll only have a time frame and a knowing that a plan is to take place, but all of the specifics will be a mystery to me again. I can't chance Chuck finding out about this and thwarting it before it even has a chance to work. The spell will also temporarily knock me into a state of unconsciousness for 5 minutes, which I will simply remember as daydreaming," Amara said seriously, looking Naomi in the eye. 

"And the other?" Naomi asked. 

"Is a spell to get you to 1997, the fertility clinic you need to go to is written in the main journal that is in your suitcase. Now, how about we get this show on the road? I'm worried that you've been here too long already, and I don't need anyone getting suspicious and breaking in." 

"Of course," Naomi answers; she picks up the suitcase and follows Amara out of the room towards what must be a bedroom where Amara immediately lies down on the bed and hands the spells to Naomi. Amara also leans over and picks up two liquid vials, keeping one to herself and handing the other one to Naomi. 

"As soon as I drink this vial, start the incantation for the first spell as that is the memory wipe one. As soon as I appear to be unconscious, drink the vial I gave you and read the second incantation. Don't worry about being powerful enough. I wrote these and mixed the vials specifically with you in mind, so I am almost 100% confident that they will work. I am trusting you with everything Naomi; you once wanted the world of responsibility, well now you have it; I'd wish you good luck, but we both know that would be a waste of time."

Naomi looks down at Amara and thinks of something to say, anything at all, but words escape her at the moment; what is the right thing to say when you start out on a mission you have no idea will actually work? In the end, Naomi nods at Amara; Amara immediately brings the vial to her lips and downs it all in one go. The Angel then begins to read in the incantation. 

"Angelard gono angelard vaoan image

tol c unal g blans c givi

ds ol kures camilax

g trian let zacam

let papnor c oi capimao

iaial de nomig noan past 

arp rid c a slate ca a ozongon

let ag papnor haunt par ne'er. 

lap Ascha trian om ag. 

kures let par page ."

As soon as Amara's eyes are closed, Naomi quickly downs her vial of liquid, not wasting a second more, she immediately feels warm before starting the read the second spell on the page. 

"Kures unal wors od kures oi rhyme,

heed a hope g ol manin 

cast ol zacam de darsar ol'll find

ds ol wish g pi, aala od capimao"

And with a flash of light, Naomi is gone, Amara still lying content in her bed, without a worry or a care, the only sound left is the tv. 

"Life doesn't discriminate  
Between the sinners and the saints  
It takes, and it takes and it takes.  
And we keep living anyway  
We rise and we fall and we break  
We fall and we make our mistakes.  
And if there's a reason I'm still alive  
When so many have died  
Then I'm willin' to- then I'm willin' to-  
Wait for it... Wait for it... Wait for it...  
Wait for it... Wait for it... Wait for it...  
Wait for it... Wait for it... Wait for it...  
Wait for it... Wait for it... Wait... "


	2. Forgiveness is a Tricky Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Free Will 2.0 have some much-needed conversations and Naomi travels to the past.

****

**2020**

Cas sits down in the desk chair as Jack gets into bed, he had stopped crying, but his cheeks are still stained with tears, the young man looking more hollow now than he did without his soul. 

"Jack, I know that it doesn't feel like it right now, but everything will be alright, as alright as it can be, in these circumstances anyway," Cas says as he looks down at his son. The kid has curled himself up into a ball tangled up under the number of blankets on his bed. Looking closer, Cas can see that Jack's eyes are still puffy from crying, and his posture was still a bit stiff. 

"How can they forgive me after everything I've done? I just don't understand," Jack mumbles, looking down at his hands.

Cas hesitates before responding, "I told you this once before, but it seems almost more fitting now, we just have to remember to appreciate the time that we all have together while we can, and I think both Sam and Dean understand that, that there isn't really time to wait for things to blow over because we don't really know how much time we have left." 

Jack contemplates Cas's words, guilt and remorse still coursing through him, making the room feel heavy. Jack thinks back to his conversations with Mary. 

...

_"You need help; we'll help you; we're your family."_

_"You can't."_

_"We care about you, Jack."_

_"No, just leave me alone."_

_..._

_"How about you? Feeling better?_

_"Everybody keeps asking me that."_

_"We're family. It's our job."_

_"Well, it's annoying."_

...

Tears were starting to fall down Jack's face again, and as such, Castiel moved from the desk chair to sit on the edge of Jack's bed. 

"I said that she cared for me, and I can tell that she did, but I didn't deserve it; I didn't deserve the time and effort she put in because even with my soul, I was fighting with her when all she wanted to do was help me." Jack cried. 

"Jack, look at me." Cas urged while shifting a little closer hoping the proximity would help calm Jack. "First, Mary loved you, and it has taken me a long time to understand that you don't get to determine or dictate how others feel about you for better or for worse. She loved you because she saw you like family, and your actions do not eliminate that fact because it was an accident. If Mary were here right now, she would tell you so and tell you that you need to not just focus on others' forgiveness, but you also need to be able to forgive yourself for what happened. You don't have to forget what happened or stop feeling remorse, but you need to determine how you can move forward and keep living.

" Secondly, families fight, that is a normal thing to happen, look at the disagreements between Sam and Dean, especially when they are trying to take care of one another. Furthermore, while you cannot simply be called a child due to the complicated reality of your upbringing and existence, for all intents and purposes, you are a child. Kids arguing with authority or guardians are common and expected, and you haven't even been given the proper amount of time to adjust to your human side fully. I read in a parenting book before you were born that 'tantrums usually don't cause concern and generally stop on their own. As kids mature, they gain self-control. They learn to cooperate, communicate, and cope with frustration.' 

"You've only been alive for a couple of years, and yet you've been expected to understand life as a grown adult all at once, which isn't fair, and I don't know exactly how to remedy that," Cas explains in a calm but clear voice, his brain still trying to come up with anything that could be used to help soothe and provide comfort to Jack. 

"You're saying that I need time to essentially fully mature and that I should just accept the feelings that people have toward me and trust that they are telling me the truth," Jack asked. 

"In short, yes."

"By that standard, it would then be rude or unacceptable to try and influence others by omitting or lying about information."

"I suppose that is correct," Cas affirmed slowly. 

Jack took a pause looking straight at Castiel, almost as if he was trying to look through him, before inquiring, "You told me that Dean feels things more acutely than anyone else you've ever known, but if that's true, why wouldn't you tell them about your deal with the empty. I imagine that would make Dean upset."

"Exactly, and Dean... Dean and Sam do not need something else to worry about right now."

"But that's what you said last time we had this conversation only last time it was about Michael, not God, and you're saying we need to make make the most of the time that we have together, well shouldn't everyone understand what they're at risk of losing?" Jack emplored almost staring bullet holes into his father, trying to understand his point of view. 

"I will tell them eventually, but as things, as they are present, I don't think that my deal with the empty is of any real concern presently, that much hasn't changed." Cas murmured, trying to push away any thoughts regarding the conversation he just had with the empty. "I can still feel relief, hope, inspiration, love, interest, pride, joy, gratification and contentment, feelings I must point out I'm still getting used to after all this time. But true happiness to the point I forget about everything else isn't in the cards at the moment."

"I this feeling in my chest though, the thought of losing you, I don't want anyone else to die, screw it being a part of growing up, I don't want to live in a world where I get to outlive everyone I love, especially when you're in a position where I might not even get the chance to say goodbye." Jack choked out the last few words; his eyes are red from the amount of crying, but the tears have stopped, having cried himself dry. 

"I'm not going anywhere-" Cas started but was cut off. 

"You can't promise that not when the empty could literally take you away at any moment," Jack interjected. 

"I think that it's time that you try and get some sleep; the Winchester's coined four hours aren't nearly enough given what you've been through today." Cas gently coxes Jack to lay back down on the bed, and Jack turns over, so his back is to Castiel. Cas desperately wants to treasure his son, take all of his worries away, and hates that he can't do that. 

"As much as it hurts to have my soul back, I'm glad to be able to feel my emotions again like my love you Dean and Sam," Jack whispers softly as he shifts to get more comfortable. 

" I love you too, Jack," Castiel whispers as he starts to rub soothing circles on Jack's back, such a human gesture that would have never crossed Cas' mind a decade ago. Cas thinks back to his old self, the steadfast foot soldier of heaven following orders left and right; it seems like a completely different entity compared to who he is now. He's become softer and, for lack of a better description, more human, feeling more human compared to Angel each and every day, and surprisingly that doesn't bother Cas. 

He's been told time and time again by his brethren that the Winchester's and if he's honest, more specifically Dean, have made him weak over time, but he doesn't see it that way. If anything, being associated with the Winchester's has made him stronger, made him a better angel, and in general, just a better being. Without Winchester's, he wouldn't be as in tune with feelings that he shouldn't have as an angel, which has made him more empathetic to humanity and creation as a whole. 

Jack was slowly starting to fall asleep, his breathing becoming more shallow as time went on, Cas continuing to rub Jack's back, not wanting to leave his son yet. 

Without the Winchester's he wouldn't know the feeling or understand what it meant to fight for what he believes in, understand that sometimes that rebelling against direct orders is the right thing to do and to follow blindly can lead to ignorance and complicity. If Jack had been born 15 years ago, he probably would have been a part of the garrison ordered to destroy him and probably would have worked to fulfill that mission. That creates an uneasy feeling in Cas' chest; he owes the Winchester's everything because, without them, he wouldn't know real family, and he wouldn't feel the love he has for his son; even more importantly, Jack wouldn't even be alive without the Winchesters.

* * *

Sam and Dean made their way to the war room and were both currently meddling with their almost empty glasses of whiskey. Both men looked both physically and mentally exhausted but also at a loss. Where exactly do they go from here? Death apparently has some sort of plan, but the details are vague at best; Jack just got his soul back, all other universes have been destroyed, they have freaking doppelgangers now living in Brazil of all places, monsters are still a thing to contend with, and Dean has a sneaking suspicion that something is going on with Cas. 

Sam is the one to break the silence in the room finally. "You think Jack will be okay?"

"I don't know, maybe? Are any of us really ever going to be alright even after all this if over, if we're even alive at that point?" Dean responded before taking another sip from his glass. 

"Don't do that." 

"Do what?"

"Talk like we're not going to make out of this alive. You sound like you did when God showed me what could happen," Sam rebuked. 

"Sorry."

Sam looked like he had an internal conflict before deciding to tell Dean, "I'm proud of you, you know?" 

"What?"

"For what you said to Jack."

"Well, the kid needed to hear it, and with what might be the actual end of the world looming, I'm trying to do better; I don't want Chuck's actions to determine how I act, prove that who I am isn't just some kind of fucked up lap experiment."

Sam didn't have a response to that, so he stayed quiet, just looking at the dark amber liquid in his glass. Dean is doing the same, but contemplating if he wants to continue to speak, it takes a couple of minutes before he picks up the courage to continue. 

"I also realized that I was starting to act like Dad."

Sam's face showed confusion before morphing into a look of understanding and simply nodded at Dean in acknowledgment, knowing that Dean didn't want or need a response to that. 

Sam wanted to bring up their doppelgangers but knows that it wouldn't be any good to do so. It was startling to see another version of himself and to act so differently. It's one thing to be shown something that has the potential to happen to you; it's another thing entirely to come face to face with a different version of you that exists at the same time but have such a different life experience. 

Thoughts regarding the doppelgangers are probably going to become an unhealthy obsession for Sam. Why did he have to go through so much pain and suffering when another version of himself was so much better off. Thinking of his mother, Sam feels anger, not for her death but rather for her life. God had played God and handed his family the worst backstory just to keep himself entertained. Thinking deep, Sam can see the parallels between his life and his moms to a certain extent. Both his mom and himself fought against their fathers because they desired a healthy, non-hunting lifestyle, and while both got what they wanted for a time, both lives were destroyed by someone facing a fiery death. Why even let this universe have 'normal' lives if the whole purpose was to create chaos and despair? Why does his family have to suffer because the entity that is supposed to love humanity wants to be entertained by his version of a video game? 

Sam thinks back at some of his happier moments, getting pulled into a memory that makes him want to smile, a memory of himself and 17 year old Dean after one of their first hunts without their dad. 

_It was a good day, the sun was out, and the highway stretched aimlessly before them, a never-ending band of black asphalt. No one had died, and Dean refused to let himself dwell on how close they had come._

_Dean was yelling and shouting along to his newest KISS tape that he had swiped from the last gas station that they stopped at. Justifying his actions by claiming he deserves to have a little reward after taking out a couple of vampires._

_"_ _Damn it, Dean, are you trying to bust my eardrums or something?” Sammy grumbled at him, but Dean just shot him a grin and started singing along at the top of his lungs when the next song started up._

_"You show us everything you've got_

_You keep on dancing, and the room gets hot_

_You drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy_

_You wanna go for a spin_

_The party's just begun, we'll let you in_

_You drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy_

_You keep on shoutin', you keep on shoutin."_

_Come on, Sammy, join in! Live a little; it's time for you to start to enjoy real music, and not just that Spice Girls crap I caught you with earlier._

_Sammy shot a glare at his brother, but it didn't really have any impact on the elder Winchester, who simply continues to sing along to the lyrics. Sam continued to glare at his brother but quickly started to simmer down, not deeming an ongoing fight with Dean worth it. Especially when they still had over eight hours of driving to do before they met up with their dad._

_Instead, he watched his brother sing for another few moments before opening his mouth and singing along with Dean. If you can't beat them, join them._

_"I wanna rock and roll all night and party every day._

_I wanna rock and roll all night and party every day."_

_As they continued to sing along, the smile on Sam's face became more genuine._

As he gets pulled from the memory, Sam's smile starts to be replaced by a frown. Why let us be so happy just to rip it from us over and over again? It's the long term planning that truly makes Sam sick to his stomach. He's starting to feel like one of those teenagers in dystopian teen dramas, given that his life is just one big story. At least Voldemort was upfront about his plans and values, unlike God. 

Sam and Dean continue to sit at the table silently, contemplating if they should say anything else to one another tonight, they both have a lot to discuss, but neither one wants to be the one to break the silence. The only sound in the room was the frequent refilling of their glasses when they run out of alcohol.

* * *

**1997**

Naomi 'lands' if you can call it that on a hill providing a panoramic view of a cityscape below that while busy with skyscrapers, residential areas and a business district was also rich with lakes and hills and lots of forest area as well. Naomi quickly identified that Golden Gate Bridge and the San Pablo Bay. California, Naomi realizes. 

She's looking down at the city below, already dreading the journey that she will have to take to make it to the city. Couldn't the spell have dropped her just a little bit closer to her actual destination? Instead, she's stuck at the highest peak in the surrounding area. She takes a look at her immediate surroundings, ignoring the breathtaking view for a moment and is disheartened at what she saw, graffiti-covered logs and trash all over. It made her sad to see that so many humans disregard this place's beauty and left an ugly mark on it. Such a common thing for humanity not to take care of the world around them, disrupting the land's natural beauty. 

While she knows that she should be immediately trying to start her mission from Amara, Naomi instead takes a seat on the curb next to the road, facing out towards the city. Naomi didn't immediately notice it when she landed, but after a few minutes, it's become glaringly apparent to her that she's cut off from Heaven. Whatever talisman Amara put around her neck is not only preventing her from being detected by other Angels but is also preventing her from reaching out to Heaven, not even having access to Angel radio. In some ways, it feels like she's fallen again, stripped of her angelic title, yet she still has her grace and her powers, albeit she won't be able to use their full potential ever again as she has no way of recharging once her grace and the Stolen grace from Amara runs out. 

It dawns on Naomi that she basically must survive as a human to preserve her strength and only use grace when absolutely necessary to protect the viability of this mission and ensure that Dean Winchester's children make it back to the right universe. 

Angel's aren't meant to have feelings, and yet, there is an odd sensation spreading through Naomi, something akin to mourning if she were actually human. There may be many problems with Amara's plan and many instances where things could go wrong, but Naomi is going to dedicate all her energy and power to make sure she completes her goal, no matter the cost. To protect humanity just as God originally ordered. 

Naomi reaches down to open the suitcase and pulls out the journal that Amara illuded to earlier. Naomi studies the journal for a moment, can sense powerful magic extruding from it. 'Smart,' Naomi acknowledges it's been coded to only open for me as it's attuned to her angelic life force. While Naomi can't be sure, she can assume that the journal will automatically destroy itself if she dies. Amara must of put a lot more effort into this plan than initially thought. 

Pushing forward, Naomi opens the journal flipping to the first page and written neatly was a simple address indicating where she needs to start. 

_2115 Milvia St. Suite 201_

_Berkeley CA 94704_

* * *

**2020**

Cas makes it through the bunkers halls quietly, the gravity of the situation playing in his mind. 

_"Yo Clarence, you got what you wanted, now what, you think you're just going to flit on home?"_

_"Yes, because we have a deal."_

_"I know we have a deal feathers, you're not dead yet, but for the time you're here, I can make you wish you were."_

_"You can't hurt me; Jack said we're on the same side against Chuck."_

_"I'm on Death's side. When her plan works, I finally get to go back to sleep."_

_"That's what she promised? She can do that?"_

_"Funny thing about her plan though: she didn't say anything about needing you. Baby, you can't just tripes in and out of here; it disrupts the natural order of things... Chardonnay Clarence? Oh, you're probably not in the mood."_

He doesn't want to dwell on the empty's words, and yet they have become a nagging voice at the back of his head. If the empty is correct and there isn't any need for him in her grand plan, then what was his purpose here other than wanting to stay here as long as possible. If anything, it makes him expendable, which causes an unsettling feeling within Castiel. 

Of course, it doesn't really surprise Castiel that Billy wouldn't have or want to have any use for him; after all, he did kill her some time ago, even if that resulted in her being promoted to Death. Dean had been worried and pissed at the time. 

_Cas stabs billy in the back, watching her life force be expelled as her body fell to the ground, the three Winchesters looking on in shock._

_"Cas, what have you done?" Dean asks._

_"What had to be done. You know this world? This sad doomed little world it needs you, it needs every last Winchester it can get, and I will not let you die, I won't let any of you die, and I won't let you sacrifice yourselves; you mean too much to me. To everything. Ya, you made a deal, you made a stupid deal, and I broke it. You're welcome."_

_\------_

_Cas overhears Sam and Dean talking in the war room._

_"You talk to Cas yet?"_

_"No"_

_"So what you just gonna keep walking past each other in the kitchen, not saying a word."_

_"Maybe"_

_"Look yes, Cas killed Billy, but he saved us, he saved mom, how long are you gonna stay pissed."_

_"I'm not pissed because that he cares about us. You know I'm grateful, but Billy said that there would be cosmic consequences if that deal got broken. Do you have any idea what that means?"_

_"No."_

_"Neither do I, but I'm pretty sure it's not jelly beans and g-strings."_

_"My point is that Cas thought he was doing the right thing."_

Cosmic consequences, maybe this is just an extension of that Cas thinks as he banishes those thoughts from his mind and walks into the war room where both the brothers were silently drinking their whiskey, their conversation seemingly having ended a while ago now. 

"How's Jack?" Sam asked. 

"Upset, grieving, but I think with a bit of time and support, he will be okay; he's sleeping in his room now."

"Good," Sam said with relief, having released a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Sam gave Cas a small smile. "Hopefully, he'll get some rest; heaven knows he needs it."

"Well, I don't think heaven's all that concerned with Jack's sleeping habits, but I know what you mean," Cas replied easily as Sam let out a small chuckle. 

"Well," Sam says as he starts to get up and stretch his back. "I'm going to see if I can't get a couple of hours of sleep; I'm exhausted; it's been a long few days." Cas looks at Sam and sees that exhaustion in his stance, the bags under his eyes and the slightly lost expression in his eyes; Cas wants nothing more than to take away all of the younger Winchester's pain. 

"I'm sorry that I can't be of any assistance Sam."

"Cas, don't feel guilty about something that isn't your fault and that you can't control, but thanks for the thought." Sam clasps his hand on Cas' should as he walks out of the room. 

"Night, Sam!" Cas calls after him before turning and taking Sam's now-vacant seat to sit across from Dean. Both of them are not sure how to start the conversation; both know they need to have. 

"This is real, right? The kid's got his soul back, and he's himself again; I'm not going to wake up tomorrow and find all of this has been some sick cosmic joke?" Dean granted out in a whisper, looking a little defeated. 

"This is real; he has his soul back; I don't know what this means in terms of defeating Chuck or where it falls into Billy's ultimate plan but for now, let's just take this as a win."

"Team free will 2.0." 

"We don't need to talk about it, but your speech to Jack was very similar to your prayer to me in purgatory; I know how difficult this is for you, but thank you for trying with Jack," Cas says simply gratitude seeping from his words. 

Dean chooses to ignore the first part of Cas's statement. "Sam was right; we've all done horrible things, we've all had accidents and make mistakes, and it wasn't Jack's fault, not really. Looking at him figure out the world is similar to how I felt seeing Sammy grow up; he's like my kid, he's all our kid, and I need to be better about that even when things go off the deep end, and shit gets hard."

"Dean, having it in you to forgive Jack is not cancelling out the grief you feel for your mother."

"Fuck I know that; it just hurts, after 30 years, I finally get her back, but she didn't even want to be here because she didn't know where she fit into our world. That hurt more than having her be dead for over three decades, but then she was gone again. It was just a big cosmic game."

Dean stops talking to take another sip from his glass; he can feel himself becoming more inebriated, not knowing exactly how many drinks he's had at this point. 

"I'm grateful for the extra time I got with her, though, even though we didn't see eye to eye the majority of the time she was back because the important thing is that she was back. I can take solace in knowing that her being back wasn't apart of God's plan his sister gave me that with no preamble, God's just responsible for taking her away again." 

"I'm sorry, Dean."

"Cas, it's not your fault, and with a giant fight on the horizon, I'm tired of feeling angry at you; I told you in purgatory, we're good, I don't want to lose my best friend before the end of the world," Dean said honestly looking Cas in the eye. 

Cas feeling shame because he should tell Dean about the deal with the empty but can't quite find the courage to do so, and Dean really doesn't need any additional baggage right now. 

Cas' brought out of his thoughts by Dean changing the subject. 

"So, what was the empty like this time?" Dean asked. 

Cas sighed before answering, "still angry with me, but I got back alright, so everything fine right now." Cas is stretching the truth. 

Before Cas can think better of it, he continues with, "it took the shape of Meg this time."

"What? Meg, as in Demon Meg?" Dean questioned his expression, a mix of confusion and shock.

"Yes, its goal was to catch me off guard but also torment me with a familiar face; I thought it was actually her for a moment. It was startling to see her form; she shouldn't have had to die." Cas responds truthfully. 

"I'm sorry, Cas."

"It's alright, we lose a lot of people, but she was a person that actually cared about my well being, I also came to like her, not in a romantic sense, but it was nice to have another person on my side."

"Ya, I get that. I don't want to lose any more people. But that was your highlight from being in the empty? No other problems?

"No, not really, well, I might have had to promise Ruby that I would try to get her released from the empty so she would tell me what she knew-"

"You promised Ruby that you'd help her get out?" Dean barked out. 

"Dean, you can calm down, there is no real way of that actually happening, but if by some circumstance we do have to remove her from the empty, we'll just find a way to make sure she goes and stays in hell. I'm sure Rowena would help, especially if it was in Sam's best interest for her to be locked away." 

Dean looked contemplative for a moment. "Well, I guess that's it then." Dean looked at his glass a moment more before picking it up and downing the last of the liquid. "I think it's time that I head to bed, too, no telling what tomorrow actually has in store." Dean got up from his seat and walked around the table in the direction of his bedroom. 

Dean paused and turned around just as he was about to leave the room to look back at Cas. 

"I'm glad you're here, man, even if I sometimes act contrary to that."

"There's no place I would rather be," Cas answers truthfully. "I will be here for as long as I'm physically able to; I don't plan to go anywhere." Again with careful word choice, he's not technically lying to Dean, although based on the feeling in his chest, he might as well be. 

"Night Cas,"

"Goodnight Dean, I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

**1997**

Now standing on the corner of Milvia St. and Centre St, Naomi realizes that she may have to wait sometime before being able to force her way through the fertility clinic if the presence of a familiar 67 chevy Impala was any indication. Naomi silently curses Naomi for sending her back to overlap with Dean Winchester's visit. Sending her back a day later would have made a lot more sense, but there isn't anything Naomi can do about it now. Instead, she simply moves to a park bench to sit and wait, hoping that she doesn't look absurdly out of place as not to catch the unwanted attention of humans or heaven or heaven forbid something else. 

\----------------------

Two hours later, she observes Dean Winchester finally leaving the building and walking to his car. While it shouldn't have surprised her, the Winchester's appearance was shocking, at least compared to what he looked like the last time she had seen him. It wasn't just that he was over two decades younger, but his soul was lighter and was without scars, having not yet been to Hell. It's curious to think who the man before her would have turned out without God's interference. 

As soon as the car has disappeared around the corner, Naomi makes her way into the fertility clinic. She sees the receptionist fiddling with what must be a pencil gazing off into the distance blankly, barely acknowledging Naomi's presence as she approaches. 

" **The man wearing plaid that just left here, you are going to go grab the specimen he just donated and put it in whatever device you have that will ensure it stays viable for as long as possible; you will then hand the specimen over to me, and I will leave, you will destroy any documentation that the man was ever here and you will also forget this little visit."** Naomi compels, letting her grace interfere, then watches as thenow glossy-eyed receptionist gets up from her seat and walks down the corridor. 

Naomi again tries to appear inconspicuous and pretends to read a pamphlet on in vitro fertilization, finding the practices than humans have adopted somewhat fascinating. The receptionist comes back a couple of minutes later and hands Naomi a silver cylindrical container, and without any other preamble, Naomi stalks out of the building.

Ducking into the nearest empty alleyway, Naomi quickly shoves the cylinder into her suitcase and pulls out the journal again. She is surprised to see that when she opened it, the page with the address to the clinic is no longer there. Must be another fail-safe, Amara thought of Naomi mused as she turns to the next available page to read the following instructions. 

_If you are reading this, then the first part of the mission has been completed. The next step is getting to the alternative universe. The next page of this journal will provide you with the necessary information about that world, but I chose one that is somewhat similar to this one, at least in the ways that matter._

_You will need to find someplace that is secluded to perform the ritual to open the rift and get to the other world. Still, more importantly, you are going to need a distraction for heaven to focus on while you open the rift to remain completely undetected. In the suitcase, there is a blue coloured hex bag; you need to slip that into the belongings of a person that is travelling out of the city to direct heaven's attention elsewhere. The hex bag contains a piece of Raphael's Halberd, which will act as a beacon of strong angelic power, which will set off the alarms in heaven, giving you a short window of opportunity to open and pass through the rift._

_The Enochian spell to deactivate the warding is as follows:_

_lrasd tol zodimibe lrasd oi qaa_

_t adgt kures noan sought_

_cirp pause oh zacam c a ozien_

_The warding will be broken precisely 5 hours after the spell is cast, and you must start the ritual to open the rift at the exact moment the warding on the hex bag fails. You cannot allow heaven the knowledge of a rift being open._

\-------------------

**4 1/2 hours later**

The forest hums with life from the flowers to the insects, to the birds singing sweetly far up in the trees. The sun breaks through the cracks, lighting up the small clearing decorated with outgrown roots, wildflowers, and fallen leaves. Naomi took in the fragrance of minty grass and damp earth, her senses becoming more vibrant as she suppressed her grace in an effort to save it. She was now sitting on a fallen tree, having made it as deep into the Tilden Nature Area as she could within the four hours since performing the spell on the hex bag. 

Planting the hex bag turned out to be a lot easier than Naomi originally predicted. As she was walking down the street brainstorming ideas, she overheard a businessman talking on the phone about his train that was to leave in just under an hour. Not letting the opening slip through her fingers, she easily slipped the hex bag into his coat jacket and kept walking in the opposite direction. 

Naomi looked at her watch, 25 minutes left, and everything is already set up for the ritual; an area was cleared of forest debris for sigils to be written in the dirt with the Nephilim and anti-christ hearts now placed in a small pit in the ground in the middle of the sigils. According to Amara's instructions, Naomi was presently holding the coin, which needs to be thrown into the pit after performing the incantation. 

Part of Namoi is curious as to how Amara exactly was able to create such an elaborate plan on her own in such a short amount of time, but as God's sister and counterpart, it's probably best if Naomi doesn't know all the details. The mission is clear, and that is good enough for her. 

Naomi is pulled from her thoughts as she noticed that the sun was starting to set in the sky, going from a bright blue to being mixed with some warmer tones. She looks at her watch again to find that she has only two minutes left, so she packs everything she doesn't need for the ritual back into the suitcase and stands up, taking her place at the head of the circle of sigils. She watched the ticking of her wristwatch until the minute hand reaches the twelve, she can feel a power surge from somewhere to the south, and immediately starts chanting.

_"Via temporis, iam clamo ad te via spatti_

_Te ubio, aperire...Aperi_

_Via concurssus, tempos spatium admi ut imperio,_

_Via temporis, iam clamo ad te via spatti_

_Te ubio, aperire...Aperi_

_Via concurssus, tempos spati_ _um admi ut imperio!"_

As Naomi flicks the coin, the pit combusts into flames, and the sigils are glowing a deep angry red; as soon as the coin makes contact with the fire, she feels more than sees the powerful surge of energy as the rift is erected from the ground. 

Without so much as a second thought, she grabs the suitcase and throws herself into the rift, hoping belatedly that she is spit out into a secluded place, but not into the middle of nowhere. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to somewhat introduce one of the children in this chapter but it was already over 6000 words and I didn't want the chapter to feel overcrowded. 
> 
> Feedback and comments are always welcome and are great motivation!


	3. We're Takin Care of Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get a Case located at a Christmas in July festival.  
> Dean and Jack both have weird dreams.

****

***Bunker Three Days Later***

"All gone is here today  
Finding room to breathe  
Go on beyond your way  
And see

And though the sounds of someday  
May be home  
And though the sounds of someday  
May be home

Even the fires on the road  
Trying to getaway  
And all the stars seem on a roll  
Out of control today."

Dean is quietly singing to himself as he bustles around the kitchen, making a basic breakfast for himself, Sam and Jack. He'd gotten up feeling oddly refreshed, not at 100%, but he feels a little bit lighter than he did the night before. Making breakfast was a sense of normalcy; he can pretend the world isn't ending while scrambling some eggs. But cooking is also relaxing; he likes creating new things even if, on occasion, those things might be revolting; he thinks to the marshmallow fluff mac and cheese he used to make Sam as a kid. 

He's just flipping the last of the bacon as he hears the telltale sound of his brother's footsteps fast approaching. 

Sam barges into the kitchen carrying his laptop, his expression grim but still lighter than it's been over the last few weeks. 

"What the hell is up with you, sasquatch?" Dean questioned, shutting off the stove as he starts to dish out three plates of food. 

"I know that trying to find a way to take down God is our top priority, but we've been searching for any kind of sign of Chuck for the last couple days, and we haven't been contacted by anyone either. I think I found us a case if you're feeling up to it?" Sam rattles off as he sits down at the table, pushing his laptop just off to the side so Dean could place coffee and a plate in front of him stacked with pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon. Sam took notice that he was given egg whites and turkey bacon, unlike his brother, whose plate was filled with more unhealthy options. 

Dean moved to turn off the stove and cover the remaining food to remain warm for Jack before taking a seat opposite Sam. Dean looks at his brother for a moment before responding. 

"A case might be good for us, help us get back into the swing of things, and it might be good for Jack to help him feel useful. That and to watch his mental and emotional stability, we can't expect him to help take down God if he can't even work a case." Dean spoke with food in his mouth, acting as if breakfast might be his last meal. 

"So get this, I think that there might be a case in Baraga County, Michigan. There have been a series of suspicious drowning over the last few days that corners are officially ruling accidents and suicides, but I'm not so sure." Sam starts as he rearranges his laptop to face Dean showing both the map of the region and the news article speculating about the deaths.

Dean studies the screen for a moment, "are you sure this is our kind of thing? I mean, I see a lot of bodies of water around that area; I imagine drownings are quite common around there."

"I thought that too, which is why I did a little digging. There has been a spike of drownings every year around Christmas time in and around this region dating back at least a couple of decades; there are only so many records made available online from a county so small."

"Dude, are you sure your okay because if you've forgotten, Christmas is in December, and it's currently July." Dean retorted as he shoves half a drowned pancake into his mouth. 

Sam moves his laptop so he can type a few things before turning it around again to show Dean.

There on the screen was an event advertisement with a photo of a Santa at the beach wearing swim trunks and holding a toboggan like it's a surfboard. 

Underneath the photo reads _'We invite you to join us for our first-ever July Winter Wonderland Christmas Festival. Come rain or shine and hopefully snow (you just gotta believe in reindeer magic), we will celebrate Christmas in Baraga or should we say Burrrrr-aga.'_

After finishing reading, Dean sends his brother a deadpan look trying to convert ' _Really, a Christmas festival? Are you fucking kidding me?'_

"I know, I know, but the drownings match the ones from December, and while it could just be a result of seasoning depression brought on by the festival, I have a feeling it's not; coincidences like that tend not to be actual coincidences. 

"A Christmas monster, really you couldn't have found us something simple? Like a rugaru or a wendigo?"

"Come on, Dean, I think we should check it out, see if there is something to it before more people end up dead. Besides the festival kind of looks like fun, we could give Jack something akin to an actual Christmas before Billy's plan is fully set in motion." Sam is looking at him with what can only be described as sad puppy dog eyes, which should have stopped working three decades ago, but Dean takes a moment to think about Christmas, never really had much to do with holiday as kids and now? Christmas has only been brought into the equation when they thought they weren't going to make it to the next holiday season. 

Dean finishes his coffee and sighs before continuing, "alright, we'll check this place out. We'll leave after everyone has had breakfast, and Cas and Jack have been brought up to speed, but more importantly, I've had enough coffee." 

Speaking of the Angel, Cas chooses that moment to grace the brothers with his presence slumping into the kitchen and just staring at the brothers. 

"Morning sunshine, want some coffee?" Dean asks, turning his attention away from his brother and to the Angel, who looks a bit unkempt like he fell asleep in a chair or something. 

"Perhaps I will," Cas replies as he moves to pour himself a cup of coffee and refilling Sam and Dean's cups before sitting down beside Dean. "I hear you're leaving after breakfast?"

"No, we're leaving, all four of us," Dean emphasizes before continuing his thought, "Sammy seems to think there is a Christmas monster up in Michigan. We've got no new leads on Chuck, so we might as well try and act like everything normal, nothings going to change with us hiding out in the bunker indefinitely." Dean grunted, taking another swig of his coffee. 

Castiel contemplates Dean's words for a moment, the two of them merely staring at each other as they always do. Neither of them notices it, but Sam rolls his eyes, and his mouth twitches into a small smirk. 

"I think that's a good idea...," Cas finally responds, "taking some time away from focusing on Chuck, at least until something else pops up." Cas pauses again, thinking, he turns to Sam suddenly. "You said Christmas monster, correct? You are aware it's currently the middle of July."

Sam shoots his brother a withering look before turning his attention back to Cas, "there's a Christmas festival currently taking place, which I think might have something to do with it."

"I suppose that makes sense-," Cas says, but his thought is cut off by Jack wandering into the kitchen. 

"How'd you sleep?" Sam asked as Jack sat down beside him, Dean jumping up to fix a plate of food for the kid before returning to the table. 

"Oddly, the nightmare I had last night was different than I am used to; usually it involves Chuck, Lucifer and everyone I love dying, really vivid yet also abstract as it mixes the angelic dimension with the human one. This one was different." Jack shrugs as he dives into his breakfast, the three adults all looking a little uneasy at this revelation. 

Uh, well, Jack, dreams can mean a lot of different things. Do you want to elaborate a bit more or something? See if we can make sense of it?" Sam __ trying his best not to show concern outwardly as to not frighten Jack, not after all the progress the kids made the last couple of days. 

"Well, I can feel myself trying to wake up, and I scream for help, but nobody comes. I leave my bedroom on hands and knees, crawling towards the war room of the bunker. I have a feeling that somebody is watching me, but I can't quite place it, their familiar but not at the same time because I'm sure I've never met this person of felt their presence before in my life. 

It was odd because when I finally made it to the war room, there is the corner was a Christmas tree, bare of any ornaments, which was strange. After all, it's not Christmas, but suddenly there is this figure human but also felt off somehow standing in the entranceway, their face was obscure. Still, I could make out vibrant red hair, I thought it was Rowena or Charlie for a moment, but the silhouette wasn't right. 

They didn't do anything though, just appeared to stare at me before telling me to wake up, which is what I did." By the time Jack had finished telling his story, all three adults were shifting uneasily; what are the odds that Jack dreams of something involving Christmas tree the night before Sam finds a case potentially connected to a Christmas festival? 

Jack cuts them off with their musings by continuing up with, "but I think I did watch too much Netflix before going to sleep. I watched 'the nightmare before Christmas, Enchanted, and the little mermaid." Jack then continues to devour his breakfast with enthusiasm. 

Some of the tension is dissipated from the room, but not completely; coincidences tend not to exist in their line of work. 

"There have been many human studies showing the impact movies can have on the dreams of humans, so it's quite possible your human soul may be trying to fix your dream space with something less disruptive than Chuck and Lucifer," Cas states diplomatically while exchanging a look with Dean. 

"But," Dean jumps in, and Jack turns his attention to him, "Sam's found a Case potentially connected with a Christmas festival, and in case this turns into some kind of premeditation for the future, just keep us in the loop ya."

"Of course, Dean," Jack responds thoughtfully. "Am I going with you on the case?"

"Ya kid, we figure everyone needs a break from the all-consuming situation which is Chuck; it would be good for us to get out of the bunker and go try and solve a generic case, like the Scooby gang getting back together again." Dean pauses before grinning and turning to his brother, "Hey, remember when we got to help the actual scooby gang?" Dean reminisces, "that was fucking awesome." Sam simply shakes his head at his brother and turns back to his laptop.

"A harrowing memory, I was paired with a talking dog." Cas deadpans, sending both of the brothers into a small laughing fit, again lightening the mood while Jack looks on in bewilderment. 

* * *

It was around 1 pm when they finally pulled away from the bunker, Dean driving, Sam in the passenger seat, and Cas and Jack squeezed in the back seat. Unlike most road trips towards a case, there wasn't much discussion about the actual case itself. There appeared to have been some unspoken rule to keep the conversation light, at least for the time being. This is how Dean had been convinced an hour into their journey to play Christmas music, Sam claiming that it fits the 'mood' of the case and that they should enjoy the little things; Dean also heard his brother mutter 'while we can' under his breath. While Dean would have preferred to say no outright, he caught Jack's cautiously hopeful look in the rearview mirror and decided to go with it. 

However, it was Christmas music with a twist seeing as Baby still didn't have a phone adapter. Hence, the only Christmas Music available was a mix-tape titled Rockin Around the Christmas Tree, which was filled with Christmas carol classics such as Run Rudolph Run, Mistress for Christmas, and Takin Care of Christmas for good measure. Dean even found himself enjoying the music, starting to sing along around halfway through the tape.

When Dean was finally able to commandeer the music selection back to good old classic rock, Cas and Sam took it upon themselves to tell Jack various Christmas stories. Sam, of course, told him about Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph. In contrast, Cas took a much more literal note by explaining what Christmas was like for Angels and Heaven, which Dean admits was fascinating. Cas, of course, shooting a withering look at Dean when he suggested dressing up a generic Christmas tree angel in a trench coat. Still, he almost had to pull over to the side of the road when Jack, in all seriousness, suggested simply placing Castiel on top of the aforementioned Christmas tree to honour the Christmas tradition. 

Ten hours into their journey and they still had six more hours of driving due to the couple of breaks they took so Jack could stretch his legs. Dean was starting to feel his body getting heavy and his mind a little foggy; it's been a while since he's needed to do such a long stretch of driving, and he ain't in his 20's anymore. It wasn't much later when Dean finally relented to Sam, telling him to let him take over driving and stopped the Impala off to the side of the road, opened the driver's door, and stepped into the warm summer night. 

Instead of merely switching places will Sam, Dean kicked Jack into the passenger seat and slid into the back beside Cas, having the ability to stretch out a bit more in the back. Dean rumples a jacket against the window, and he's asleep before Sam pulls back onto the highway, but there is more to fear than a nightmare as sometimes memories are the worst nightmares. 

\--------------------

_It's like he's reliving one of the worst days of his life._

_Seconds, it was only seconds that Dean felt a deep sense of relief before his entire world was ripped apart again, for the second time in a matter of minutes._

_It was slow motion, he got out, he got out and was supposed to be safe but just as Cas opened his mouth to speak and angel blade is plunged into Cas' back and exiting his stomach the bright white light of Castiel's life force poured out of Cas' eyes and mouth, his grace leaving his body._

_It's a sight that Dean had seen countless times since finding angels were real, but he never thought he'd see it happen to Cas._

_"No!" was forced from his throat, but his mind was still processing what happened; he doesn't even may any attention to Mary and Lucifer; he only has eyes for Cas' lifeless body._

_Dean collapsed to his knees beside the angel, letting out another chocked breath as he takes in the sight of Cas' wings singed into the earth below. He's seen Cas die countless times, but there was never a real sense of finality and never with a body like this._

_Dean reaches out, placing a hand on Cas’ cheek. His skin is still warm, but it won’t be for much longer; Dean closes his eyes, letting out a shaky breath._

_\--------_

_When his eyes opened, he noticed the scene had changed; he was no longer kneeling on the cold hard ground beside Cas' body; he was instead on a fishing dock sitting on a chair with a fishing pole in hand. Everything around him has a warm tone, the air was crisp with the leaves starting to change colour, and the gentle waves creating a calming sound._

_This dream feels different to him because he doesn't feel like he's reliving something but instead is actually present lucid dreaming. However, the scene is startlingly familiar, but it's not even a real memory, or it's a memory, but it's a memory of a dream. Fuck, that line of thought hurts his head._

_This is the same set up as the dream he had where Cas visited him before finding his human vessel having little memory of being an angel._

_He hears the crunching of fallen leaves as someone approaches him from behind; he turns to greet whom he assumes was Cas pulling him out of whatever nightmare he was having, but his greeting dies on his lips when he sees it's not Cas beside him._

_Instead, there stood a young woman with red hair wearing what only could be described as a cloak with her face completely obscure._

_Alarm bells run through Dean's mind, and he goes to stand up, this can't possibly be real, but he finds he's stuck to his spot, unable to move._

_"Relax, you were having a nightmare."_

_"What the fuck do you want? Who the hell are you? Let me up, so it's at least a fair fight." Dean wiggled around, trying to figure out how he was stuck._

_The young woman has the audacity to laugh, "I'm not here to kill you, make no mistake I don't like you, I might even loath you at times, but we're on the same side. The universe made sure of that."_

_"So what you make me relive a memory to what torture me," Dean interrogates, still trying to get up from his seat, but something is making him stay put. This whole thing is just getting a little too weird, even for him._

_Ignoring his question, the woman releases a bitter laugh, "I didn't make you relive anything, that was all your own doing, and you can't even acknowledge what's even in front of you; it's freaking evident to anyone who bothers to look._

_"Now you're just talking in tongues," Dean spat out, glaring at the stranger._

_"How many second chances do you think you are going to get, 2, 4 maybe 6? Hell, you might have already lost your last chance, and you don't even know." Dean can't see her face but can tell that she's angry and frustrated; he just has no idea why._

_Before Dean can even attempt to respond, the woman opens her mouth again._

_"It's time for you to wake up now; someone else is calling for you."_

\---------------------

Dean startles awake, eyes flying open to see concerned blue ones looking back at him. It takes him a moment to realize he had somehow migrated from his position against the window to lay his head on Cas' shoulder, and if God weren't a dick, he would have thanked him for having not drooled on the angel's shoulder. 

"Are you alright?" Cas asked his face, still showing clear signs of concern as Dean straightens himself out to sit upright on the seat, moving slightly away from Cas, so they weren't pressed up against each other. 

"I'm fine, just a little nightmare," Dean grunted out; he chanced a look towards the front of the vehicle and was met with a worried Jack and a look of concern from his brother in the rearview mirror. 

"You were fine for a while before you started to look aggravated in your sleep; you were mumbling something along the lines of 'not again, I don't want to see this again,' I tried to stop it, but I seem not to have enough power right now, and you became peaceful again for another half hour before becoming rigid. I've been trying to wake you up for a couple of minutes." Cas relayed his lips, turning into a deeper frown when he finished talking. 

"Wait, how long was I out for? I told you I only needed a couple of hours!" Dean demanded, only now noticing that the sun was starting to rise, filling the horizon with orange and pink shades. 

Before Cas could answer, Sam, cut in, "About 5 1/2 hours, we're about a half-hour out from Baraga County, we agreed that you should sleep for as long as you could, you needed rest." 

"Didn't feel like I was asleep that long. I don't even remember much about what I was dreaming about," Dean muttered to himself, trying to will his brain to remember the missing pieces but only remembers Cas dying and the mysterious woman.

"You were asleep for over four hours before you showed any signs of distress," Cas paused. "Did you want to talk about it?" Cas asked finally, and Dean could feel all three sets of eyes watching him from their various vantage points in the car.

"Just memories about Michael, nothing to worry about," Dean lied, not wanting to cause any more distress to the others in the car. Cas squinted at him for a moment, clearly trying to figure out if Dean was telling the truth but ultimately came to the decision to let it go. 

"Do you want to see the pictures Sam had me take on his phone," Jack asked after the silence in the car had gone on for an uncomfortable amount of time. 

"Jack!" Sam shouted at the same time as Dean exclaimed, "What pictures?"

"Photo's of you sleeping; Sam seemed to think that pictures are good for remembering happier times and family," Jack said matter of factually, and Sam looks as if he's trying not to crack a smile. "Here, look."

Jack turns his phone to face Dean and is confronted with a photo of him with his head lying on Cas' shoulder, and he did have to admit that he looked peaceful, almost happy, making him wish he could remember his other dreams. He turns his attention to Cas in the photo, which at first glance looked like he was deep in concentration while reading the book that he had propped up away from Dean as not to disturb him. 

Dean was about to look away from the photo when he noticed that Cas wasn't actually reading the text in the photo but was looking at Dean from the corner of his eye and a slight smile on his lips. Dean began to get an uneasy feeling in his chest and was hoping that he wasn't blushing because he knows Sam's going to use that photo as blackmail at some point. 

"Just remember to sleep with one eye open, Sammy," Dean grunted, leaning back in his sleep, and his brother just chuckled in response; Dean could see his eyes roll in the mirror. 

There is a comfortable silence for the remainder of the drive, but Dean keeps thinking about the mysterious woman. Is it the same person that visited Jack, was it just his mind playing tricks on him, was it even real. He feels slightly guilty about not telling the other's, but there really wasn't much to know, at least not yet, and what was the woman referring to? He doesn't see what's right in front of him; he scoffs to himself in his head and turns to look out the window at the sunrise, listening to Cas mutter to himself about the Enochian text he was reading. 

* * *

Sam pulls into what is now their fourth attempt to find a place to stay in this town; they really should book ahead instead of finding a place to sleep up to chance. They knew there was a Christmas festival going on, yet it still came as a surprise when the first three places were booked solid. 

Dean took a good look at the place, and his eye involuntary switched at the sight. While having got accustomed to having their own space in the bunker, he and Sam weren't picky when it came to off route accommodations—being used to seedy places where men with beer guts went to bang other men's wives. Or places where hooker's brought their john's and paid for rooms by the hour. Exteriors tended to be run down, falling apart with a particular scent lingering in the air. 

That was definitely not this place, it was also a little ways away from town that they were currently trying to investigate, but Dean supposed it's better than nothing. However, he can't get past the fact it looks like Christmas threw up all over the fucking place. It was still early in the morning, but all the Christmas lights and displays were still flashing and moving around; they made the god damn motel/hotel/lodge look like a freaking Gingerbread house. The lights looking like icing and gumdrops with giant gingerbread blow-ups and candy canes, not to mention the true to size sleigh with light-up reindeer on the roof. 

Deans turns to look at his brother in horror but first catches the look of absolute wonder on Jack's face, his eyes truly lighting up for the first time in months. Sam and Cas are both smiling while watching the kid, and Dean can't help but smile a little as well; he can suffer through if it means Jack doesn't lose that look on his face. 

"I'll go get us a room," Dean muttered, getting out of the car and slamming the door shut behind him. He braces himself as if he's going into battle before walking towards what he hopes is the front office. 

When he walks into the office, he's greeted by an elderly man and woman dressed up as Santa and Mrs. Clause, and Dean has to will himself to walk towards the desk and not bolt out of the room. He'd gladly fight a back of wendigo's than have to deal with this. 

"Hello dear, do you have a reservation?" The old woman asks so sweetly that it could rot teeth. 

"Ugh, no, see my.. my son's never experienced Christmas before just adopted him recently, and my brother saw an ad for the Christmas festival that's happening, so we drove straight here. We're kind of hoping that you have a room left?" Dean talks, trying to look sympathetic. 

"Well, you're just in luck! We have with the North pole apartment suite still available as we had a cancellation this morning," the Santa Claus said as he types something into his computer, "you said your boys never experience Christmas well that just won't do! I'll give you the room for half price and throw in a family pass to all the festival attractions!" The man beams at him, a twinkle in his eye. 

"Ugh, you don't have to do that!" Dean exclaimed, feeling slightly uncomfortable, and if he's honest with himself, a little scared, ordinary people are not this cheerful.

"Don't be silly; it's the gift of giving my dear boy; enjoy the festivities, and don't hesitate to ask if you need anything!" 

He shoves a packet of paper across the counter towards Dean, and not seeing another option, Dean forks over a wad of cash to the man. Dean mutters his thanks, trying to give them his best smile before taking the package and room keys and bolting out the door. 

Not looking where he's going, he bumps into someone, almost dropping the package of paper all over the ground. Even though it was his fault, Dean's the one to react, "Hey, watch where the fuck you're going." Dean grunts turning to look at the person, noticing that it's just a young kid, maybe 19 at the most. 

The kid just looks at Dean for a moment; something akin to shock flits across his face, but it's gone in an instant. "You know you shouldn't keep all your emotions bottled up; fear itself is a disease which manifests itself in anger, hate, depression, and hypocrisy." The kid says, looking him straight in the eye, and Dean, for some reason, is rooted to his spot. "The more anger you hold towards the past in your heart, the less capable you are of loving the present."

"What are you a god-damn fortune cookie? Mind your own business; you know nothing, kid." Dean snaps at the kid, and the kid just dares to smirk at him. 

"No, just someone that can read people like a book like you, for example, and I know about lots of things, but I'd say that's none of your business. Anyway, be sure to enjoy the festivities." The kid says with a fake cheerful smile and turns to walk away. 

"What?" Dean shouts after the kid, and the kid turns back to him, looking at him a little questioningly. 

"The Christmas in July festival, that's why you rolled into town right, you're literally holding a family pack?" The kid doesn't even wait for a response before stalking off and disappearing behind a nearby building. 

"This town is already too freaking weird," Dean mutters to himself as he walks back to the Impala, which is parked as far away from the front office as possible. 

\---------------

While the room was called the North Pole suite, it was thankfully much more toned down than the exterior of the building, and it was much nicer digs than they are used to, with maybe the exception of the bunker being more like home. The suite had two bedrooms and a broad open concept living space with a dining room, a kitchen with an island, and a living room area with a large L shape couch that's long enough even to fit a Winchester and a giant flat-screen TV mounted to the wall. 

Dean, of course, opted to take the couch as even though it could technically fit Sam, it wouldn't really be comfortable. Jack was given the other bedroom because the kid deserves to be comfortable during this trip, that, and he was amazed by the decorations as despite having a Queen sized bed, the room was clearly meant for Santa believing children. 

They were all sitting around the dining room table, eating the breakfast that Sam had fetched from the closest fast food place while having information about the case and various lore scattered across the table. 

"So, what do we know so far about the deaths?" Dean asked before taking another bite of his breakfast burrito.

So, there has been a minimum of 10 drowning every year around Christmas in and around this area. Still, every year they get written off as suicides or accidental because there has been no evidence that there was any foul play. Because of how many bodies of water are surrounding the area, drowning isn't unheard of during the rest of the year. Besides, the county has acknowledged that seasonal depression can hit the down hard, especially with the festivities making it seem like everyone else is happy all of the time. Plus, there tends to be a lot of alcohol involved, which leads people to do stupid things." Sam explains while showing the other's the various reports of drownings dating back years. 

"Those are valid explanations, though, Sam. What makes you think this is actually our kind of thing?"

"Other than the fact that there has been an uptick of drownings that just so happen to coincide with a Christmas Festival that traditionally only runs in December when the other drownings happened? The previous victims were all killed in December, the elements had always disrupted the crime scenes, but the newest four victims have been weird."

"How so?"

"The coroner concluded that they all died from drowning, but all four victims were found peacefully either right by the water or floating face up in the water, which doesn't happen for drowning victims."

Sam turns his computer around to show the crime scene photos he hacked from the local police department. 

"The coroner noted that it was weird because usually even with a suicide drowning, there would be evidence of some kind of struggle to stay alive as the body's natural fight instinct kicks in. But these four victims it was like they walked into the lake and breathed the water in calmly until they died," Sam stressed.

"Okay, I'll admit that's a little weird."

Sam turns his computer back to face him for a moment before turning it around again; it looked like a zoomed-in photo. 

"I noticed some markings in the background that the police didn't seem to notice, or if they did, they didn't make any note of it in their reports. Some of them are protection sigils that I recognize from some of the lore books, but they don't have any clear connection to any one creature, but there are other markings that I've yet to be able to identify."

Castiel takes a moment to study the images on the screen. "I don't recall seeing anything like these before, it does look more like an ancient language than sigils, but it's not of a language I am familiar with." 

"Great, we don't really know anything, I mean, this weird drowning does eliminate some of the basics like vampires, werewolves, changelings, banshee and wendigo's, but this doesn't even look like something we've seen before." 

"Do we know anything about the victims other than how they died?"

"No, I figured we could split up to cover more ground, especially with the festival in town there is going to be a lot to cover, and we should try to cover as much as possible as with the rate of the victims, it's likely that there will be another one tonight," Sam said grimly, staring at the crime scene photo's on the computer for another moment before slamming it shut. The hardest part of the job is knowing that you can't save everyone, which is even harder to deal with, knowing that God doesn't even care. 

"That's set. Then we'll suit up, go talk with the local law enforcement and see if we can get anything more out of them about the Vic's, see if there are any commonalities between them," Dean said, starting to pack up some of the stuff on the table so it wouldn't be out in the open. 

"Jack and I can scout out the crime scenes to see if they can find anything that local law enforcement would have missed, see if we can sense anything amiss. I saw that touring the nature scene is a big draw for tourists; it would probably be better if Jack and I just pretended to be on vacation." 

Before the four of them head out and go there separate ways, Dean catches Cas and quietly says to him, "After the crime scenes, go take Jack to do something fun, something utterly human, maybe he can forget about everything else even if it's only for a moment," Dean shoves two of the Festival wristbands into Cas' hands and walks out the door. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song is from Jensen's duo Radio Company - I liked the song and I thought it fit.  
> This chapter and the next one were originally supposed to be one chapter but I got inspired by everything that's happened over the last week and added a LOT and still had to cut scenes because they were too out of place.  
> Don't pay too much attention to the geography as I've mashed together a bunch of places in Michigan.


	4. Sunflower and Roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Free Will 2.0 work the case, Death finds something out of place, and there is a surprising reveal!

There were four crime scenes with four victims to take a look at, which indicates that whatever it is that is killing these people isn't tied to any one body of water, which unfortunately makes it harder to find them because they could be anywhere. Not only that, but they also don't even know if the creature is indeed dependent on the water for survival, which just leads to more questions instead of answers. 

Cas and Jack visit the crime scenes in the order that the victims died. The first crime had been completely trampled by foot traffic, so it was impossible to determine anything on the ground, and neither Jack nor Cas could sense any lingering magic in the area, but that didn't mean that there wasn't any. They even looked for markings and sigils on the surrounding trees but came up empty-handed.

The two of them worked with a comfortable feeling between them, working mostly in silence or making small talk which considering it was between an Angel and a Nephilim, went pretty okay. Jack even asked some follow up questions about what the holidays are like for Angels and heaven, wanting to know more about heaven and how it used to work since it had fundamentally changed over the last 15 years. 

Cas was surprised that it didn't hurt to talk about heaven; it's both been so long since he originally rebelled against heaven to help Dean that it can feel like lifetimes, yet it also feels like an insignificant amount of time considering he's been alive for millennia. He likes telling Jack about what heaven used to be like before the civil wars and the fall because it wasn't all just following ordered and fulfilling duties; some celebrations took place, special occasions; angels were friends with one another, not just brethren created to be soldiers of God even though that was their main objective and duty. 

Meanwhile, they moved through the second and third crime scenes a little bit slower than they did the first. More text was carved into the trees, but Castiel still couldn't make sense of any of it. However, they found human-like footprints leading into both of the water bodies coming in from a different direction than where the bodies were both found, so the police had overlooked them. There were two sets each that showed that both entities calmly walked into the water because there were no drag marks or signs of a struggle to get them into the water.

\--------

Cas drove to the fourth location now while Jack was looking over all the photos they had taken.

"Cas?"

"Did you find anything?" Cas asked, glancing over at Jack. 

"Maybe, or at least found something strange; at both the second and third crime scenes, the footprints we found were of a man and a woman, but none of the footprints match each other."

"Which either means were dealing with a type of shifter or-"

"Or we are looking for more than one creature here." 

"Let Sam and Dean know."

\---------

Cas drives as close to the final crime scene as possible, but it still means that they have about a fifteen-minute hike to get to the right location. 

"Hey, Cas?"

"Hmm," Cas acknowledged as he stumbled forward through the thick forest brush. This is definitely the most secluded crime scene, so hopefully, it will bear more clues than the other three.

"I've been thinking about the true spirit of Christmas because comparing what Sam tells me about Christmas versus what you explained about Christmas in heaven; they appear to be very different."

"That's because they are Jack; Christmas means a lot of things to a lot of different people, from what I gather from the information that Meatron forced upon me, and my interactions since being on Earth is that the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart."

"What does that mean?"

"For some Christmas is about providing for other's either in the way of gift-giving or volunteering time or donating money to charitable causes; other's see it as a time to celebrate life in general and to reflect on the years that past; some find it as a time more reconnection with those things and people you've lost touch with," Cas explained carefully, making sure the choose his wording wisely as to educate but not confuse Jack. 

Cas pauses for a few moments before smiling slightly at a memory, "Dean, for example, when he thinks about Christmas and actually celebrates it, sees it as a time to appreciate what one has and to make the most out of what they already have."

"So I can determine what Christmas means to me? It doesn't have to match anyone else's definition."

"That's right, and there are no rules here; the holiday season is what you make of it, not a schedule of things you must do or feel."

"Free will," Jack says quietly, and Cas turns and takes a step back to stand in from of his son and put a steadying hand on his shoulder. 

"Chuck may have dictated some of the major plays, but he doesn't control every action that we make. Dean once asked me what was real, and I'll tell you the same thing I told him, 'we are.' Cas comforted, looking directly in Jack's eyes. 

"There is free will in Christmas mythology even; ask Dean if you can watch Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol."

_I wear the chain I forged in life... I made it link by link and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it._

* * *

_Death is the gateway to rebirth, and as someone passes through, they are both mourned and celebrated. Their loss is felt in their lives and in their communities, yet their achievements of goodness and love are also celebrated. It is a time when people are the most aware of how sacred living is and to appreciate the gift all the more. But how will humanity, angels, and demons fair when it is God that is to be mourned? Will he even deserve to be mourned after everything he's done?_

Billie billowed through the shelves of hundreds of thousands of books stacked in neat rows, stacked in neat rows, all orderly arranged and aligned in a specific order that no one but her was able to determine. Each book held it's own world of wonders and ultimate finish, with some books appearing unfinished, but endings aren't always satisfactory and wrapped in a bow; most are abrupt and unplanned, leaving more questions than answers. Each book holds answers to short and lifelong questions about humanity that had lasted for hundreds of years before this library had even been assembled to aid each new death were their role. 

She stops at the most visited shelf in the entire library, the Winchester's. She had felt a ripple, something had been tampered with, something was messing with the natural order of things, and when that happens, there is generally only one guess as to who was responsible. They may be the messengers of God's destruction. Still, the books write themselves, and they can rewrite themselves over and over again, changing the final outcome until the natural order has been restored. 

Just like she told the Winchester's, they were playing a big game here, with only being strong as the weakest players; the big picture is clear, one life means nothing in the grand scheme of things, but that doesn't mean that one life can't create another cosmic problem to deal with. 

What she didn't explain to the Winchester's is that God's book also changes; she may have a plan, and so far, that plan works, but the book is not complete until the final word comes to fruition and the book locks itself shut, indicating the true end of the story. Most books aren't locked, and potentially will never be locked, because stories tend to never really end even if the books like to pretend they do because they don't end on the last page any more than they begin on the first page. Stories are interconnected, which makes the destruction of God that much trickier. 

She looks over the shelves looking for something to be amiss, a perturbed look on her face. If she felt this much of a disturbance, then it must be something that could change anything, which is why she is taken aback at what she finds at the end of the shelf. Two new books added to the end of the shelf, their colour being two-toned, which is concerning because one of the colours match every other book from the Winchester's world while the other one is a few shades different. 

She would have felt something shift if the Winchester's had actually tried to play with the universe; she's been keeping an eye on them to ensure that they didn't do anything to jeopardize the plan.

She reaches out and picks up one of the books, turning it over to take a good look at it, there is no name on the book, which should be impossible since nothing can truly escape death, but it is possible to evade it. She opens the book and sees that the pages are bare, which is also concerning but not surprising if the book also doesn't have a name, but two different colours separate the pages. 

She flips to the point where one colour ends and the other one starts, flipping to make sure she isn't missing any text that might be hidden in the pages. There is only a date written on that page, but reading it would make her blood run cold. 

_May 18th, 2017_

Only a few words are marking the page, but those words are creating hundreds of questions for which Death doesn't have answers. God doesn't have the power to shield himself from Death, or he shouldn't have the power based on him writing himself into the fold; the empty is a Cosmic power but doesn't have this kind of reach. They already have an understanding which leaves only one entity that even has the potential of crafting the power needed to ward against Death. 

"Amara," Death ponders, what on earth has she done? 

_Death, however, also overlooked a key element, everybody and everything has a book; she was so caught up in the chaos that she took finding the new Winchester books at face value as the only item out of place, which is why she didn't notice the new two-toned book that also suddenly appeared in the Angel section._

* * *

Sam and Dean drive to the sheriff's office, which actually shares a building with the city hall, which would have been fine if the city hall wasn't decked out to be Santa's workshop/house. 

"You know this is reminding me a lot of the Santa's Village we visited during a case before I got dragged to Hell, originally."

"Ya, if you shot it with steroids."

"Come on, that ended up being a good Christmas; we didn't get killed by the wacko couple, we had presents-"

"And I spiked the eggnog; I remember Dean. And I'm all for doing it again. Let's hope the overall outcome is different and not let our guard down, though, not when we don't really know what Chuck's up to."

"I'm not exactly letting my guard down, but I want to enjoy myself a bit; I think we've all earned that at this point, so I'm not going to worry about every little thing until there is a galaxy damn good reason to."

"Galaxy damn?

"God damn didn't feel right," Dean shrugged with a small smirk. 

They get out of the car and walk into the building, Dean rolling his eyes at some of the signs donning the doorway. 

_Christmas is mostly for children. But we adults can enjoy it too until the credit card bills arrive!_

_Santa told me you’d been outstanding this year; I told him it was just a lack of opportunity. Merry Christmas!_

_Christmas is the festival of love and spirit, So let us drink the spirit to feel love; Merry Christmas too!_

_Anyone who believes that men are the equal of women has never seen a man trying to wrap a Christmas present._

"I think they need a new sign person; these suck," Dean said, walking through the front door. 

Before Sam could even think of responding, they were doused in Christmas coloured confetti and greeting by a group of school children dressed as elves. 

"God rest ye merry gentlemen  
Let nothing you dismay  
For Jesus Christ our Saviour  
Was born on Christmas Day  
To save us all from Satan's pow'r  
When we were gone astray  
O tidings of comfort and joy  
Comfort and joy  
O tidings of comfort and joy

From God our Heavenly Father  
A blessed Angel came;  
And unto certain shepherds  
Brought tidings of the same,  
How that in Bethlehem was born  
The Son of God by Name.  
O tidings of comfort and joy,  
Comfort and joy  
O tidings of comfort and joy."

Merry Christmas 

"Not likely."

Walking into the sheriff's office offered little reprise from the Christmas celebrations; the entire department was dressed up as Christmas characters. With who must the Sherrif dressed as Bumble the Abominable Snowman. 

"We are in freakin crazy town," Dean mutters, walking up to the man with Sam's only response being to elbow him in the ribs, hard. 

"Sherriff? My name I'm Agent Ashford, and this is my partner Agent Simpson; we're with the FBI," Dean said, flashing his badge as Sam did the same. 

The Sherriff looked at them with a confused expression. "FBI, what does the FBI want with our little town."

"The drowning, there have been four so far this week; we've been ordered to investigate," Sam answered. 

"Those were just suicides, and unfortunate accidents happen all the time around Christmas, nothing to worry about." The man rebukes cheerfully. "Hey, Delilah, go get these boys a pass to the Kris Kringles Kakes and Kookies Karnival."

"That's really not necessary," Sam says at the same time as Dean pushes forward with, "whether suicide or something more sinister we need to investigate, so is there anything that you can tell me about the victims."

"Not much to tell, they were all women under 30, three were locals, and one was a tourist who came for the festival. Deputies took statements from family and friends, but with how they found the bodies, it was concluded that it was just a sad coincidence. The sheriff shrugged and gulped his drink, which left whipped cream on his fake beard. Sam and Dean both ignored it, opting just to try and get out of there as fast as possible.

"We'd like to determine that for ourselves, once we're satisfied, there isn't anything left to do here; we will get out of your way."

"Fine," he picks up a folder on the desk behind him. "This has everything we have on the drownings, including the addressed of next of kin, knock yourselves out, but I'm telling you you're wasting your time. You should try exploring the festival instead." 

"Thanks, we'll be going now." Sam blurted quickly, taking the Sherriff's file and turning to leave Dean following on his tail. 

The brothers quickly made their retreat but could hear the sheriff bellow from behind them, "Oh, be sure to check out the baked goods tasting! There are 31 flavours of pie!"

\----------------

They had talked to all the Witnesses and family members, which has taken the better part of the day but was about as helpful as throwing a drowning man both ends of the rope. Everyone who knew the victims said that the victims were happy and had no reason to kill themselves or had any reason to be out by the water. This pushes the idea that the drownings were not accidental or intentional on the part of the victims, which gives them absolutely nothing. There were no witness accounts of the victims wandering off with strangers, and their best lead so far was that two of the four victims had attended the daily Pied Piper Poetry Pageant. 

The two of them were now sitting off to the side in a cafeteria of sorts, Dean having dragged his brother, with the premise that it was lunchtime, to the ultimate pie tasting extravaganza, that's not actually what it was called, and there were countless other baked goods to taste. Still, Dean only cared about the 31 flavours of pie. While Dean had stuffed his face with samples of every single pie, Sam opted to get a Christmas themed Salad. 

"So, what do you think it might be?" Dean asked, shoving his last free sample, a piece of pumpkin pie in his mouth; it was good but came nowhere near the Whiskey Butterscotch Praline Pie from the lady named Grandma Ginger. 

"I don't know, man; there are a lot of creatures that are associated with water and by proxy with drownings, kelpies, water sprites, fairies, mermaids. It might be a siren, but if it is, it isn't like one we've ever encountered before. When I was going some digging, it appeared that this area has really deep ancient roots to Europe, so I looked at Europe specific monsters, but there wasn't much to go on, at least not in English. The closet I got was something called a Rusalka."

"What's their deal?"

Sam pulled out his laptop to bring up the article he had been reading earlier and began to read to Dean. 

"The rusalka is a female entity, often malicious towards mankind and frequently associated with water as they tend to be depicted as similarity to mermaids. Before the 19th century, they were seen as harmless creatures that helped to provide strong crops by moistening the soil."

"So they suddenly just decided to start killing people?

"The lore states that instead of a peaceful transfer of life by giving one's self to the water when it was their time to die, the soul of a young woman who had killed herself after having been wronged by her village gave herself to become a rusalka with the intent of getting revenge on those that wronged them."

"That doesn't even really leave us much to go on; I mean 19th century Europe, the odds of figuring out who that girl was is worse than trying to find a specific needle in a needle stack."

"I know, and there aren't any ties to Christmas in any way, so I don't think it's the creature that is drowning the people here."

"Great, so we're back at square one, awesome."

"I still think that we should go to that poetry thing, right now it's our best lead, rather it's our only lead right now, it starts in 20 minutes maybe we'll get lucky" Sam urged as he started to pack up his things.

"Fine, but if it starts turning into a giant therapy session, you're on your own" Sam rolls his eyes at Dean's antics and follows him out. 

* * *

The fourth crime scene found yet another set of footprints, but this time there was also a large marking or sigil like graphic drawn into the forest floor; it was on the opposite side of the small lake, which is probably why it wasn't in any of the crime scene photos Sam had hacked. After shooting off a couple of texts to Sam and Dean, the two of them made their way back into town as Cas had been instructed to have a good time with Jack.

Real Christmas music was drifting down from the speakers perched on windowsills, roofs, and lamp posts, the music creating an air of cheerfulness; the entire downtown had been turned into a Christmas village of sorts, and while many might find it charming, Castiel has to hide his discomfort. The town is vividly bringing back memories of the dreaded milkshake town that he and Sam visited last year; he has to remind himself that this was simply a fringe festival is what he believes Dean referred to it as. 

"Cas look, it's snowing!" Jack exclaimed, pulling Cas out of his reverie. 

Castiel looks up and notices that there is indeed white stuff falling from the sky, but it's not snow. As they continue forward, Cas catches some of the 'snow' on his palm to inspect it. 

"I believe that it is a potato or corn starch processed into flake form, quite clever actually since the starch will dissolve in heavy rain, making it much more eco-friendly than some of the alternatives," Cas explains as he ducks to avoid hitting his head on a giant candy cane. 

"I kinda wish I could use powers to transform it into the real thing; cartoons make it seem like playing in the snow is a lot of fun." Jack pouted, shaking off some of the snow that had collected in his hair. 

Cas slight smirk forms on Cas' face, "I think that would, unfortunately, cause the citizens of the town to panic if it started to actually snow in July. But we should try to take advantage of the opportunity we've been given." Cas smiles and reached into his pocket to pull out the two passes and the brochure that Dean had passed off to him earlier.

Jack turns to look at him in confusion, "what?"

"When Dean checked in, he was given a family pass to the festival; while we're here, we should check out some of the activities; we don't get to celebrate the holidays all that often, so let's try to have some fun." Cas looked on expectantly, hoping that Jack will be in favour of the idea. 

"Shouldn't we meet back up with Sam and Dean?"

"No, they said they would meet us back at the lodge around Dinner time, they only got one potential lead from the sheriff's department, so they are going to check that out." All around, people were rushing to, and fro, most of them wearing some kind of Christmas themed attire; Cas had to admit it was quaint. 

"Meaning we have some free time?"

"Yes, Jack," Cas answered, handing him the pamphlet about the festival just as a pair of shrieking children ran past running towards a shop with the name 'Kay Kringles Kandy.'

Jack turns in that direction and starts walking towards the candy store and disappears inside before Cas even has the thought to follow him in. 

As Cas walks into the candy shop, he notices a bright Green sign reminding patrons to 'Visit Hermy the Elf'with a cartoon elf dressed as a dentist.

"An elf who's a dentist, strange," Cas mutters to himself, he may know the plot of Rudolph in theory, but it doesn't mean he understands why an elf would be a dentist. 

Cas stops in his tracks once fully inside the store, his first thought was that he's sure Gabriel would have loved this, and his second thought was that Jack was going to be here for a while. 

The store itself was set up whimsically with icicle lights, fake snow, model trains that transported free samples around the store, and a staircase that proclaimed to take patrons to 'Chocolate Heaven.' The ground had candy on every available surface, shelf, and wall. On the wall behind the counter, there were rows upon rows of hard of sweets, their lids so round that the shop person could barely get their hands around them. There were sweets of mint and rose, saffron and lemon and licorice twists. Pear shapes, lozenges, elegant little comfits, wine gums, and of course, Christmas staples such as candy canes and humbugs. Shelves were adored with gift baskets and boxes mixed with an assortment of goodies in addition to fairy drops, sugared almonds, and candied fruit imprisoned in glass jars so large it would take two hands to lift it up onto a scale. 

If he wasn't an Angel, he might have thought that Jack was in heaven. 

\--------------

After the candy store, they went into Christmas Sweater Depot because Jack wanted to pick up something for Sam and Dean, which resulted in Jack picking out options that are sure to cause the brothers the laugh but also glare at Cas for allowing them to be bought. For Sam, a red and green sweater with the words 'Merry X-Moose' and a cartoon moose with Christmas lights hanging around its antlers underneath. For Dean, a black sweater with the words 'Nuts about Christmas' with a cartoon squirrel dressed as a nutcracker underneath. 

Personally, Cas thought that both the sweaters were humorous and paid a kind of tribute to the nicknames the late King of Hell had given the brothers. He needs to make a note to get a picture to Rowena somehow. He had also chosen a sweater for Jack, which was covered in small Christmas Candies with the words 'I just want Candy, Candy Canes, Candy Corn, and Syrup.'

Speaking of sugar, Cas was regretting not stopping Jack from tasting every single one of the free samples at Kay Kringles Kandy because it seemed that despite being part angel it seemed Jack experienced a coined 'sugar high' and was talking enthusiastically about all the other offerings of the festival and commenting on every new thing he noticed. Despite his deep regret, Cas was allowing himself to feel contentment with the sense of normalcy, careful to prevent himself from calling it happiness. 

He's startled when Jack grabs ahold of his arm and pulls him forward in a hurry. 

"Jack wha-,"

"Come on; we've got five minutes before the show starts!"

Bewildered, Cas asks, "what show?" as Jack continues to drag him down a new street. 

"The dancing, Christmas sing-along light show! The assistant at the candy shop said that we couldn't miss it!" 

Jack finally lets Cas go as they enter into what appears to be a recreation center that has also been decked out for the holidays but leaning more towards winter wonderland than Christmas village, which is honestly a nice change of pace from the rest of the downtown. 

The two of them show their wristbands to get in and proceed to find the best seats they can, which happen to be actually quite close to the stage, surprisingly. They don't talk further, but Jack is nearly vibrating with excitement, which honestly hurts Cas' heart a little bit because this is how Jack should always feel and will fight for Jack to have that happiness if it's the last thing he does. 

The lights begin to dim, and a man dressed up like an elf takes the stage. 

"Good afternoon, gingerbread folk; today's show, if you don't know, will consist of a 40 minute condensed version of swan lake followed by a Christmas carol sing-along with accompanying light show. We ask you to stay seated for the duration of the performances and only to get up if necessary. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy the show!" The elf scampered off-screen as the room went black, and the show started. 

Rather than watching the Ballet, Cas, with a small smile on his face, watches Jack stare in awe at the ballerinas on stage, immediately becoming invested in the performance to the point it looked like he was trying to prevent himself from blinking. 

Jack was fascinated with what he was seeing as he hadn't seen anything like it; he knew that ballet was something that people did, but he didn't know it would be this beautiful. Right from the start, the performances were energetic and bold. The movements from each of the dancers were made with precision, and they hit the mark each time. There was never a dull moment on the stage. Constant movement and flow kept himself engaged, alert, and active. 

The one scene that was a standout for Jack was when the Black Swan enters the royal court. Seeing the dual identity play out through nothing but the body language was astounding. The melancholy of her expressions, the vulnerability as she shied away from Dmitry Seminov’s Prince character, was done beautifully, but she shone the minute she donned the black tutu. 

Jack didn't need to understand ballet in order to appreciate the performance because all he saw was the breadth of human emotions being portrayed without a single word being said, which presents itself as a learning opportunity. He was just happy to spend some time doing something normal with his family. 

* * *

Strangely, the poetry venue was the one place they’ve found thus far that wasn’t 100% decked out for the holidays, make no mistake, there were decorations, but the quantity of them made the bar seem almost bare in comparison to the rest of the twinkling town of Christmas crazy. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming mostly filled will a younger crowd; at the back, the bartender was quite busy fixing what looked like specialty cocktails; one of them had a candy cane.

The bar itself was pretty packed with what looked like a mix of locals and tourists that came for the festival, though it was hard to tell them apart given that they were all dressed up; Dean suddenly felt extremely out of place; they shouldn’t have changed out of their FBI get up before coming. A couple of long tables were crammed with as many people that could fit on the benches and a scattering of smaller tables occupied by what looked like groups of friends even the bar stools were occupied. They were given a few questionings looks by people, but nobody questioned their presence, which Dean was thankful for.

They found an empty place at the back of the venue, close to the bar and out of the way, providing them with a good vantage point to conduct surveillance on the entire area as it gave them a view of both exits, the floor, and the stage.

Dean’s phone vibrated, and he pulled out his phone to take a look; Sam catches him smiling, so he turns it around to show Sam the photo that Cas sent, Jack looking at an endless display of candy in complete admiration.

Sam chuckled, looking at the photo, “I’m glad he’s having fun,”

“Ya, me too.”

They stood awkwardly for a few minutes, trying to see if they could spot any obvious outliers before the event officially started, but so far, nothing looked out of place. They were only waiting about fifteen minutes before a young woman dressed as some kind of character. Dean didn't recognize came onto the stage to provide an introduction to the event. People then started coming up on stage and performing their poetry; Dean actively tuned them out, instead, looking at the patrons' reactions to see if anybody stood out as acting odd or was taking tom much of an interest in one of the performers. 

There had been five or six performers before Dean saw something he recognized from the corner of his eye; he looked up as some young kid, maybe late teens early 20s at most, walked onto the stage. It's the same kid that bumped into him earlier outside their motel. Dean started cursing Sam in his head for wanting to go to this damn thing like they were really going to find clues of what's drowning people at a poetry reading of all places. 

There was something about the kid; however that put Dean's teeth on edge, there was something hauntingly familiar about him, but Dean is sure he'd never seen the kid before in his life. 

The kid in question walks up to the mic looking a little uncomfortable. He looked out at the crowd for a moment before starting to talk. "Hi there, my name's DJ; I was going to read something that I had written but uh nothing really seemed to fit, so I'm reading a poem that my guardian used to read to my sister and me when she wanted to convey how we could change the world. I like to think that we still will someday." 

Dean scoffed at the kid's speech, although he did remind him a bit of Sam as a teenager. 

"Dean, shut up." Sam hissed, elbowing in the ribs as he smiled apologetically at the couple that had turned around to glare at them. 

"Come on, Sammy, this is a waste of time." Dean tried to reason with his brother. 

"We don't know that, and at least two of the victims were confirmed to have attended one of these poetry readings." 

"Well, I don't get how spewing a bunch of words in a fancy way has anything to do with Christmas." 

"According to the pamphlet for this festival, poetry was used to bring communities together around the holidays, so they adopted poetry readings for both their December and July Christmas festivals-" Sam explained before getting shushed again by the couple in front of them. 

"Sorry," Sam mumbled in apology before growing quiet again. 

Sam and Dean return their attention to the stage to watch the kid. 

"So without much more rambling, this poem is called You Tell Me." The kid, DJ, Dean's brain supplied helpfully. 

"It cannot be so

You say

Simple hands

Cannot change

The fate of humanity.

I say

Humanity is

A boundless,

Absorbing heart

Transcending

Death & generations

And centuries

Absorbing bullets

And stitches

And tear gas

Enduring humiliations

And illegal abortions

And thankless jobs

I say to you

The heart of Humanity

Has not

And will not

Be broken

And let us raise ourselves

Like lanterns

With the millions of others-

With the mad

And the forgotten

And the strong of heart

To shine."

The kid finishes and says a small thank you to the crowd before leaving the stage quickly. Dean exchanges a look with his brother while the crowd starts snapping their fingers for some reason. 

"Still think that this was a waste of time? There was no way that poem is a coincidence." Sam whispered harshly over the snapping. 

Dean just sent a glare to his brother; just because his brother was probably right doesn't mean that he needs to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Dean watches as a young redheaded woman takes the stage, and he starts to have an uneasy feeling in his stomach because there is something familiar about her as well but can't place it. 

Dean notices that the young woman looks rough, like she definitely doesn't want to be at a poetry reading right now. There was also something haunting in her gaze as she looked out at the crowd, almost a mix of defeat, despair, and anger, which immediately sticks out like a red flag to. 

The young woman stands up to the mic and starts talking, "So you just heard my baby brother speak, it was his idea to come here actually, he thinks that getting some stuff off my chest would 'be good for me and a healthy thing to do, you know in the 'Christmas Spirit'" The girl actually uses finger quotes saying the last two words but then lets out a self-deprecated laugh before continuing. "At least I'll be able to drown my sorrows at the bar; after all, this is over, am I right." Which prompts a small wave of laughter from the crowd. 

Sam nudged Dean at the woman's word choice, and Dean sent his brother another look, something was definitely going on, but he didn't get the vibe that the woman was involved in any murderers. It also frustrated Dean that the young woman also reminded him of himself in someways those thoughts provoking his stomach to churn uneasily. 

"Anyway, this is a poem that I was forced to write for a therapist that I was also forced to go to while my brother and I were in the lovely foster care system, moving around, not having parental figures can suck like a bitch, but my brother and I made it out alive, so I guess that's something." Dean could feel the bitterness of her words. 

The woman then pulls a crumpled up piece of paper out of her back pocket, "Sorry I didn't memorize this one... as for the title, let's just call it 'Wolves in the Canyon,'

"During snowstorms, it is always the most quiet.

Sometimes as a child, I would leave my bed

To walk out in the white padded dark

And sit at the canyon’s edge, tucked neat

amongst the lacy shelter of tangled willows.

The voice of one wolf can split itself so that it sounds like

The voice of three,

So a small pack of wolves sounds like the most lonesome.

Chorus.

Sitting out at the canyon’s edge,

Looking out upon the still strange landscape of winter,

I knew their song.

I felt it deep in my belly.

Sometimes I was sick with it,

So heavy was it in me that all I could do

was open my mouth and let it call out.

It was instantly my comfort.

My own treasure harboured somewhere.

Behind my lungs, inside my heart.

It was the song of my soul, I imagined,

And I would lend it to the wolves.

And sing with them in the still of midnight,

While my brother lay sleeping,

Beneath thick blankets of dreaming."

The woman finishes, but as she does, her eyes find Dean's, and like that, the looks of anger and frustration she had while reading the poem turned into a look of almost fear with a flicker of something else. Honestly, she looks like she just saw a ghost. 

As the room starts shaping, she practically runs off the stage and starts moving towards the exit, grabbing whom she described as her brother on the way. 

"Come on!" Dean grunted, moving to follow the two kids out of the bar Sam close behind him. 

When they finally reached outside, they see the fleeing duo run into an alleyway up ahead, so they chase after them, which isn't easy as the streets are still fairly crowded with costumed festival-goers. 

"She definitely looked scared of you!" Sam yelled at the tried to catch up with the suspects, almost knocking over an unsuspected elf in the process 

"Ya, and I want to know why." Dean turns into the alleyway and slows his pace a little but continues to move forward. Suddenly something hits him from behind him, making him stumble, and he scrambles to right himself as he pulls out his gun, but as he turns back around in the direction of the two kids, he sees his brother blocking their path with his gun drawn. 

"What the hell are you," Sam demands as hid finger twitches towards the trigger; Dean doesn't raise his weapon but holds onto it just in case. 

The two kids raised their hands and looked at Sam with clear fear in their eyes even if they were trying to hide it; it was clear they were now trapped. 

* * *

"Wait, it's not what you think; we're not the one's drowning people." The boy turned away from Sam slowly to look at Dean, which is when Dean recognizes the symbol peaking out from under the kid's shirt. 

"Hunters?" Dean's asked, surprised as Sam slowly starts to lower his weapon. 

"Kind of," the boy answers. 

"What do you mean kind of? You either are, or you aren't," Sam responds, giving the children a weary look. 

"Look, it's complicated, and I'd rather we didn't discuss this in an alley where anyone can come across us; we have answers for you, but we should do so in a more secure location; we're staying at the same motel, we can talk there. 

"Fine, Dean grunted and signalled for the kids and Sam to follow him; there was a tense silence as they walked back to the Impala, Sam keeping his weapon hidden under his coat but not holstering it in case the kids try something. Dean doesn't miss the flicker of emotions in both kids' eyes as they took in the car before climbing into the back seat. 

'What was that about,' Dean thought to himself, sitting down behind the wheel as Sam gets in beside him but turns his body around to keep an eye on the strangers in the back of the Car. 

No one says a word during the entire drive though it appears everyone has something that they want to say; instead, they sit in an uncomfortable silence that continues to become tenser as the minutes pass by. By the time they arrive at the lodge, the atmosphere is almost suffocating, making Dean glad to get out of the car and move into the motel suite. 

Dean ushers the kids to sit down on the leather couch and stands in front of them while Sam works to close all the curtains so no one unknowing could look inside before going to grab the holy water and knife. The two strangers were both calm as Sam administered the tests, splashing them with the water and making a small cut in both of their forearms. Satisfied with the results, Sam finally holsters his weapon and goes to stand next to Dean. The four of them now are just staring at each other, waiting for someone to say something. 

"Who are you?" Sam finally asks, breaking the silence. 

The boy goes to open his mouth, presumably to answer, but his sister quickly cuts him off. 

"You are looking for a _näkki."_

"What?" Sam questions, a confused look crossing his face. 

"The monster you're looking for it's called a näkki ." She answers, simply picking at one of her nails, not looking at anyone. 

"Hey now," Dean buts in, "we're talking about the two of you." 

The girl, however, looks unbothered as she ignores Dean. 

"It's a shape-shifting water spirit that originates from Finland, specifically Lapland, the Christmas Village. The näkki tends to take the shape of other creatures, including humans, to gain the trust of lovers of the holiday to convince them to give themselves over to the water to protect the natural order of things and protect the lakes. They do so in the name of Vellamo, the Finnish water goddess, but as far as we can tell, the water goddess doesn't actually exist. They don't need to hunt during the holidays, but they take advantage of the timing because people can be the happiest they've been all year during the holidays.

"They, however, tend to take on the image of men because they found that women were much better protectors of the water and the earth and were more altruistic overall being selfless while maintained absurd amounts of Christmas cheer. Näkki lure women and sometimes children to drown in lakes, streams, rivers, or any other body of water by playing enchanted songs; they are like a siren in some ways. There is a spell that can kill them, and you only need to capture the leader for it to work, but they first need to grow despondent by not being given any access to contact with water. 

"They encourage the drowning of people because they can harness the power of a soul to preserve the natural environment around them. You've seen the nature scenes and the numerous bodies of water around, that's not a coincidence, this area was originally settled by Finnish immigrants which unknowingly brought the Näkki to America."

Dean is only half paying attention to what she's saying; his eyes flick between the blond and the redhead, trying to wrack his brain on why they are so familiar but appear to be total strangers. The girl seems oddly hostile towards him, but the boy keeps looking at him questioningly like Dean is some figure that needs to be figured out. 

Dean's brought out of his thoughts by the sound of someone entering the suite; he turns to see Cas carrying several shopping bags, and noticeably Jack is absent. 

Forgetting about the strangers seating inform of him, he gives Cas his full attention. 

"Where's Jack?" Worry seeping into his voice. 

"He went to go get dinner from down the street; I gave him one of your credit cards," Cas answered, but his attention wasn't focused on Dean but rather on the two people seated on the couch and if Dean were watching them instead would have noticed how both of them tensed and look at Cas apprehensively when he walked in the room. 

"Who-" Cas started, but Sam had already started to explain. 

"There names are DJ and Marion; apparently hunters, they found out what the thing is that we're hunting...." Sam trailed off when he noticed the look of complete shock on Cas' face like he's just been taken aback or saw something that shouldn't have been possible. 

Both Dean and Sam were now looking between the strangers and Cas bewildered at the weird standoff they were now seeing.

"How?... There isn't any record... it shouldn't be possible," Cas is staring at DJ and Marion in complete bewilderment. 

"Cas, what is it? You're kind of freaking me out. Are they dangerous?" Dean asked, becoming more and more on edge at Cas' behaviour. 

"Their souls really do have a remarkable similarity to yours," Cas murmurs as if he didn't mean to say that out loud. 

Both of the kids seem to shrink a little into the couch as all three of the older adults in the room are now looking at them with various degrees of questioning looks.

"Our souls?" Sam questioned, confused. 

"No, just Dean's, the both of them, it's actually quite remarkable."

"I thought souls were unique like fingerprints; how could they bear any resemblance to mine?" Sam was the one to ask because Dean was just looking at the strangers, pieces of a puzzle starting to come together in his mind, but his common sense was trying to reject the full picture. He really looked at them now, seeing all the little things, the boy's green eyes, the shape of the jaw, his haircut, the girl's freckles, and facial expressions. He was now just starring at them in shock while Cas and Sam continued. 

"Souls indeed are one of a kind for each and every individual, but there can be generational similarities among strong lines, especially when there is interference," Cas answered softly, momentarily taking a look at Dean. 

"What," Sam asked, taking this moment not to be fast on putting things together. 

Dean can tell Cas is still staring at him from the corner of his eye, but Dean's just staring at the two kids in front of them, the two of them now looking straight back at him there faces trying to cover the numerous emotions that they are cycling through but failing. 

"My kids, you're my kids, aren't you?" Dean whispers, just looking at them in a mix of shock fear. 

There is a tense, silent moment when everyone in the room just digests Dean's words, no one moves, and there isn't a sound.

Finally, Marion breaks the silence before letting out in a barely audible whisper, now looking at Dean with a sombre expression, her anger from earlier melting away. 

"We were created in order to give you all another edge against Chuck."


	5. M.C.W & D.R.W

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback between Amara and Naomi explaining the plan and then the kids reveal more about themselves to Team Free Will 2.0, including why their existence disrupts Chuck's plan, leaving everyone else is horror.

***2020 Amara and Naomi***

_Amara smiled at Naomi with a hint of relief crossing her face. "It won't be easy," Amara said, signaling for Naomi to follow her into the apartment. " It starts with time travel, which I know, granted, is something that was attempted before in order to prevent the original apocalypse in this universe, but my mission for you serves a different purpose." Amara sat down at the large dining table and waited for Naomi to sit across from them before continuing. "You won't be really changing anything per se; rather, you will be stealing something and traveling to one of my brother's alternate universes in order to put my plan into motion."_

_"Time travel, alternate universes, I thought Chuck destroyed all his other universes, so isn't this plan doomed before it even begins?" Naomi said, frowning a bit._

_"My brother indeed destroyed all other universes, but as humans have discussed and as Angels should know better, p_ eople _assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, nonsubjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff, so to speak. Basically, the universes are destroyed, but they are destroyed at this point in time on a linear scale. However, if you go back in time and then travel to an alternate universe, it will still exist because it hasn't been destroyed yet."_

_"Okay, there are numerous things that can go wrong with this plan so far, but if you think this is the best way to preserve God's original intentions with creation, then I am willing to try it; what exactly am I going back in time for and why do I need to go to an alternate universe to do it if I'm already going to be in the past?"_

_" What we need is a curveball that my brother won't see coming, it's not an accident that there is no universe of my brother's creation where the Winchester brothers have any descendants. My brother has a fear of other Winchester's messing up his plot; why do you think it made it, so Adam was the one locked into the cage with Michael all those years ago? Or why my brother decided that Mary needed to be killed again? My brother's only interest is with the brother's all other Winchester's are unpredictable given that family is always put before anything else. You are going to ensure that two Winchester children are born."_

_"How am I to do that without completely messing with this timeline? Messing with cupid's has gotten Angels into trouble before; just look at John and Mary Winchester, and I'm supposed to get both Winchesters to have children?." Naomi questioned; she honestly was just wishing Amara would get to the point already but keeps those thoughts to herself._

_"No, this plan only involves Dean having children as he's already provided the means to do so, not Samuel; the plan I imagine would still work if he were the father of the children, but that would involve more divine intervention if you will. When the elder Winchester was 18 and strapped for cash as humans call it, went to a fertility clinic to be able to afford food as gas for a couple of weeks, interesting what humans will do for money sp..." Amara was cut off, Naomi began to speak as if reading off a Wikipedia article._

_"Sperm donation—a man donating his sperm to conceive a child who for all intents and purposes belongs to parents other than him—has been happening for centuries. One of the earliest recorded cases of sperm donation in the Western world_ _was in 1884 when a doctor in Philadelphia inseminated a woman with sperm donated by his “most attractive” medical student. The practice became more popular during the Baby Boom years after World War II. However, it often remained secret parents kept from their children and from the world—both to protect the man from the stigma of infertility and to protect the child from the stigma of illegitimacy," Naomi paused for a moment, "you want me to bo back to 1997 to steal Dean Winchester's sperm from a fertility clinic, travel to an alternate universe and ensure that two Winchester children are born." Naomi slowly putting the pieces together, the plan is complicated, and there are issues, but if it works, then maybe the world order in this universe at least can be restored, and not all would be lost._

_"Basically, I would suggest finding a way to put the children in foster care until they are at least ten years old before taking care of them yourself; this will prevent strong familial ties apart from each other, which should make it easier to grow them into the people you need them to be. When I looked back through Dean's memories, ten years old was when his mind was finally able to really grasp the severity of the situations he was placed in and was able to understand what his role was in life, which at the time was protecting his brother and hunting things. It may appear that you are essentially raising them to be soldiers, but really, how is that any different than any of the members of, how did Dean put it, Team Free Will 2.0, they were all created to fight, why would Dean's children be any different?" Amara explained, and frankly, what's a little more manipulation to ensure a world where free will genuinely does exist?_

_"I imagine that you have a plan to get us back from the alternate universe at some point?" Naomi asked after digesting Amara's words. Going back in time is a blip in all her existence, but given the circumstances, a couple of decades really will feel like a lifetime._

_"You will need to travel back through on the night of Lucifer's son's birth,_ May 18, 2017, _I believe as at that time everything was going haywire on earth due to the rip, as a result, you will be able to get back undetected by anyone in this universe provided everyone is wearing their protection talismans and protected by the warding that I have left in the instruction package of everything that you will need to know going forward. While you will be returning in 2017, you mustn't cross paths with the Winchester's until everything up until this point has happened; my brother is currently weakened, and waiting will be the best shot for this plan actually to work. Use the three years back in this universe to help the children become well equated with everything in this world as it will be at least slightly different from what they will be used to in the alternate universe, also use this time for training, have them try their hand at the Winchester way of hunting. When the time comes for the children to finally reunite with their Father, and be cautious, he's not the most trusting on a good day, and now more than ever is questioning what is actually real and what isn't. " Amara then smiled softly, looking almost wistful. "Dean once gave me what I needed most, at least what I believed to be what I needed most at the time. I wanted to do the same for him through bringing Mary back, but that was only a sliver of what that man truly needs, he needs and most importantly, deserves happiness and a family; hopefully, this plan will give him the stability of family that he has always craved, even though there will still be casualties, but at least he'll be living without my brother's constant interference, which in turn should stop the Winchester's constant meddling in the natural order of things."_

_Naomi looked straight on at Amara with a look of admiration and a bit of hope that this plan will work, "alright then, how do we get started?"_

* * *

"We were created in order to give you all another edge against Chuck." As she spoke, she reached under her collar to pull out the strikingly familiar amulet. Both the kids are now looking straight on Dean, and Dean is speechless; they are waiting for him to have some kind of reaction, but his brain and body aren't responding.

Dean's mind keeps repeating the word 'my kids' and stares at them, really two young adults as both appear to be at least legally adults, they are claiming to be his. His heart clenches because he's not supposed to have kids, he's not supposed to screw anybody else up, but here they were, somebody else taking that decision away from him. He shouldn't be surprised, when has his life not been controlled by cosmic influence. 

Sam is still staring at the kids with a warry expression, not really knowing what to make of them, but if he's honest, he also feels a pang of jealousy. 

"Where did you get that? It should be'at the bunker?" Sam's expression transitioning into one more of suspicion and accusation. Marion turns her gaze away from her father to address her uncle, doing her best to keep herself together and remain calm.

"No, it's not, if you look for it when you get back, you'll notice that it's missing."

"It was given to our guardian at the time they were given the mission to ensure we were born, I don't know how they got it, but they mentioned that it was an heirloom of sorts but also would warn us if God was around us." DJ cut in, his response was firm in tone, but there was hesitation evident in his voice as if he was scared to say the wrong thing and elicit a bad reaction from the men in front of him. 

It's obvious looking at them that the girl has taken over a protection role within the duo thus allowing the boy to be a bit more vulnerable. It's striking to Castiel how much like the brother's these children seem to be, even with only being around them for a short time. 

"Guardian? You mean like an actual Guardian Angel, because in our experience, Angels are dicks." Sam using his brother's common insult against the Angels. 

Up until this point, Dean was still just staring, his brain unwilling to connect the dots and acknowledge what is right in front of him. While Cas overall has been more concerned with watching Dean, understanding that this is another life-altering revelation and is worried about Dean's state of mind. However, his eyes flicker to the kids at the mention of Angels. 

"Well no, more like Guardian in the sense of being a parent, but they were more a mission handler first and substitute parent second. While she had come to care for us in her own way, it was clear that the mission and goal always came first." Sadness and a hint of bitterness are detectable in Marion's tone, which indicates that's it's a touchy topic, but really nothing about this conversation is easy. 

"Wait, what do you mean created? You mean like some freaky science project? How the hell did they manage to have you created because if you had existed before, you would have been a target, Dean doesn't have children; it's not possible." 

"We were created in one of the other worlds; I believe you met your counterparts not long ago? -" Whatever else DJ was going to say was cut off by Dean cutting in, finally rejoining the conversation. 

"So you're Douchbag's Dean's kids?"

"No!" Marion quickly interjected. "We were born and raised in that other world up until three years ago, but we are really this world's... your worlds... we are your kids. Not another version of you," Marion had continued and hesitated for another moment before continuing cautiously, "remember 23 years ago when you were alone in California? I think you had just finished a case and were about to drive back to meet up with your dad and Sam. You needed some quick Cash. 

Dean wracked his brain for a moment, trying to connect the dots when suddenly he's pulled into memory. 

_"This might just be the stupidest idea I've ever had," Dean mutters to helpful as he parks his car outside what looks like an ordinary business building, no obvious identification of what the build is used for. It's not exactly something he wants to do, but he desperately needs the money, and he can make more in 10 minutes than he could hustling pool all weekend._

_He walked into the building and is greeted by a bored-looking receptionist; she gives him some paper-work to fill out and tells him to go sit. He fills out the form with mostly bull-shit information; it's not like people tell the truth on these things._

_When a nurse comes to collect him, he follows her down the hall and into a small room; he doesn't hear the words she says as she closes the door behind her. The instructions he thought be pretty self-explanatory, do his thing and make sure it gets in the cup. He looks around the room; it's a weird mix of the doctor's office with the obvious medical supplies and education posters scattered around; and a bachelor pad fit with a comfy chair, dirty magazines, a tv, and a sizable adult video collection._

Dean breaks away from the memory. 

"That's impossible-" Sam starts, but Dean cuts him off, "no, it's not," Dean grunts out, voice low, looking at the floor almost like he meant it to be a whisper, but his voice didn't get the memo. 

"What?" Sam asks incredulously, looking more confused by the second. 

"When I was 18, I went off on a simple hunt on my own because Dad wanted to take you out for some training exercises without me being there to distract you or whatever. I was reckless with the cash that I had earned hurtling and burned through the emergency money that Dad gave me." 

Dean, now looking up to face his brother. 

"I needed quick money and was in California, can't remember what city, saw an ad for sperm donors, so I decided to donate." 

"Wha - what were you thinking?" Sam's tone started to come across as accusatory. 

"I was 18... I wasn't... I thought the picket fence isn't a life for a hunter, so I'd figure I'd make my mark another way? I don't know, man, I needed the money." Dean answers, not taking his eyes off his brother, but suddenly startles himself with a thought and turns back to the kids sitting on the couch. 

"I remember calling that fertility clinic a few years later, and they told me that there was a fire that destroyed all of their inventory of donations."

"That was part of Chuck's interference; he caught wind that you had gone there a few years after it happened and, I don't know how he does it, wrote it in his script that there was a localized fire? Amara, however, had our guardian go back to the day that you visited and stole... your stuff." Marian expressed slowly trailing off towards the end, becoming a little uncomfortable at the thought of her Father's sperm. 

The tension in the room grows as nobody says anything, all four Winchester's just staring at each other, not knowing where to continue the conversation. But Cas was looking at the children thoughtfully like he was trying to figure out a puzzle that didn't quite fit. 

"Who exactly is your Guardian? It wouldn't have been Amara herself since that would be far too noticeable, godly power playing with time and rifts in the universe. There are only so many species that have the power and ability for time travel."

"It was an Angel." Dj murmurs. 

"What? Could Heaven afford to lose another Angel? When I talked to Naomi, she said there were only nine Angels left in Heaven and two of us on earth, I haven't heard anything from them, but I imagine an Angel being missing would be noticeable." Both the kids flinched at Naomi's name, but no one in the room noticed more focused on the fact an Angel helped Amara pull something off that should have been impossible. 

The kids shared a glance before Marion sighed and spoke up.

"It was Naomi," she says plainly, eliciting a reaction from the three men currently standing before her. 

"What!" Sam and Dean exclaim at the same time. 

"I just saw her in Heaven not long ago, and she didn't mention anything.? 

"Why the fuck would she agree to this?" Dean demanded. 

"I gotta agree, it's out of character." Sam piped in. 

"Okay, slow down, we can only answer questions so quickly," Marion muttered while rolling her eyes; at that moment, Sam noticed how similar the facial expression was to Dean. 

DJ then decides to enter into the conversation again to answer, "first, the Naomi you met in Heaven had not yet made it to the past; in fact, in this world, Amara would have only sent her back about two weeks ago now. Secondly, while she had many faults, including one's that neither of us," he indicates towards his sister, "truly understand, her focus was on her mission, a mission that she believed would restore heaven and order to the world because God would not do it himself."

"Where is she now?" 

"She's dead, she died, ensuring that we made it back safely to this world so that we could complete the mission."Both kids shot sad looks towards Castiel, knowing their history. 

Cas steadied himself, might not have had a particularly fond history with Naomi, but they had come to an understanding, they were still their sibling, and it appears her last act was to protect Winchester's, something that he would have laughed at the thought of. Her dying to save Winchester's when she had initially had Castiel kill hundreds of copies of one. A bit ironic. 

"Never thought I'd live to see her redeem herself." Dean thinks out loud. 

Everyone in the room is startled and flinches when Jack comes bursting into the room with numerous fast food bags. Jack's greeting dies on his lips when he catches sight of the two strangers sitting on the couch. Jack's head did a little tilt, something that he'd picked up from observing Cas for so long, his gaze trained on Marion. 

Dean, Cas, and Sam all notice Jack's staring, which means they miss Marion's uncomfortable look of guilt, which crosses her face as Jack moves farther into the room after closing the door behind him. 

"Jack, ugh, how do I explain this, they are-" Sam is abruptly cut off by Jack. 

"You were in my dream." Jack states matter of factly, which catches Dean's attention.

"What? What is he talking about." Dean's memory of his dream coming to the surface, the memory of the mysterious figure floating through his mind. 

"You're the girl from my nightmare; you were there towards the end, I think you told me to wake up."

"You were terrorizing him?" Sam turned to question Marion who's face was now becoming a shade of pink. 

"No! I just, maybe wanted to see him, I got curious, I wasn't sure when we'd actually meet you all and unconsciously willed it to happen. Once I was in his dream, I noticed that he was having a nightmare and tried to guide him out of it the best I could." Marion let out in a rush and then turned to her father with more of a guilty expression now on her face, "then the next night, I actively tried to enter your dreams; it wasn't really specifically you but any of you. I think the proximity of you coming closer to here made it easier to maintain the connection for longer."

"Wait... you had a dream, like Jack's, and you didn't tell us!? Sam was now glaring at his brother with a fraction of worry and hurt in his eyes, tired of the lying and omission of details. 

Ignoring his brother in favour of dealing with his daughter, "You made me have that Dream last night?" There was a tense clip to Dean's tone. 

"No, you were already reliving that memory; I simply brought you to the fishing dock one once I managed the connection."

"You were cryptic and pissed at me."

"This entire situation is bizarre, and I hadn't figured out what I would say to you first face to face, plus your memory got to me." Marion quipped back, her eyes narrowing and body language entering a fight or flight response, which dissipates some when Dj shuffles a bit closer to provide a grounding. 

"What memory," Sam says at the same time Cas expressed, "you haven't mentioned that you've been having nightmares again."

"Never mind, it doesn't matter now." Dean dismisses with a wave of a hand. 

"You're a dream walker? Both of you?" 

Both of the kids shake their heads now looking a little uneasy with how to proceed, both Cas and Jack move a bit closer to where the duo are sitting in an effort to try and figure out or sense what they are. 

"It feels familiar but not dangerous; it's almost too familiar like it's at the tip of my tongue, and I can't recognize it." Cas pondered with a frown, eyeing the children curiously. 

Jack's eyes suddenly glow yellow, and Marion and DJ don't have any time to prevent their reaction, their eyes glowing an unnatural green for a moment before returning to their normal eye colour. 

"You have Angel Grace." Jack breaths in wonder, eyes growing a little large, everyone in the room now trying to digest that piece of information; really, this is a lot all at once. 

"Wait, I had kids with Naomi! Nope, nope, nope, this is not happening."Dean panics and starts moving, suddenly this went from being weird to being too much to handle; he barely hears Jack when he starts to speak again. 

"No, they aren't Nephilim." Jack hesitates, "But they aren't fully human either, they somehow have Angel Grace attached to their souls, that shouldn't be possible, it should have killed them. Right, Castiel?" Jack turns to his Father, but Castiel looks deep in concentration with a look of slight shock on his face as he starts to put the pieces together, it's his turn for his mind to reject what the facts are telling him. 

DJ looks from Cas to Dean, but then his eyes linger on Sam for a moment longer as he tries to collect his thoughts to figure out how to explain it. 

"It's quite similar to what Azazael did to you Sam when you were a baby," DJ's eyes were still trained on him, and Sam flinched at the mention of the demon. "Except that it was done in order to save us, see we were born in a world where we only partially belonged, as our respective biological mothers were from that world, but our Father, Dean, is from this one. This resulted in the instability and warping of our souls; Naomi had access to grace that she had brought from this world. She gave it to us to mend the damage, Marion got a bit more than me because Naomi had tried other avenues first before thinking of the Angel grace, whereas Naomi gave me a portion of the grace only days after I was born."

"But still, you were just human infants; from what I understand about Angel grace, it should have killed you."

"Because of whose grace it is, it would have killed us if it had been any other Angel's grace."

"Who was it." Sam and Dean asked in unison.

Neither Marion nor DJ were the one's to answer; instead, it was Cas. 

"Mine."

Dean turned around sharply to look at Cas. "What?"

"Naomi used my Grace; she must have kept a portion of it when she was using her mind control; it probably made her job easier having constant access to my grace." Castiel paused, looking away from Dean and to the kids on the couch. "I can see it now; it's actually why your souls look so similar to Dean's with the way I had to patch him up when I rescued him from hell." 

"What do you mean, Cas?" 

"When I rescued you from hell, I had to not only rebuild you but patch you up as your soul had scars from the time you spent in hell."

It takes Dean a moment before it dawns on him, "The handprint." 

"Yes, but more than that, the handprint was a physical manifestation of my grabbing you, but in doing so, my grace reached out to heal the wounds because I had touched you in my true form; it left a scar. But also traces of my grace that was working as bandaids, it's extremely rare for the grace not to react violently to contact with a human soul, to combat that it created a two-way bond."

Everyone ignored Sam when he muttered a 'more profound bond' under his breath. 

"Because you and Castiel already had that bond, Castiel's Grace recognized that were related to Dean and thus saw our souls as extensions of Dean to protect or something, quite honestly it was confusing when Naomi was trying to explain it since she didn't seem to understand it either. She was working on a hunch," DJ trailed off and shrugged nonchalantly, evident that he didn't have any further explanation to give. 

"So you're also kind of Cas' kids." Sam was now smirking, obviously finding the new information humorous, but it was unclear if his amusement was just a coping mechanism or not. 

If Cas could blush, he probably would be right now; as it stands, he was just looking at the floor as if it had just become the most interesting thing in the world. Dean's thought process screeched to a halt; he and Cas did not have kids together, except they kind of did; Dean's still waiting for himself to wake up and for everything that has happened in the last day and a half to just be a dream. 

Meanwhile, Jack, oblivious to the various feelings the others in the room were feeling, decided to ask the crucial questions. 

"So do you have powers? I can sense you're not as powerful as me, but I can sense a tingle of power radiating from you, and you entered my dreams so you must have something." 

Marion was the one to answer, "We do, we aren't as strong as an actual Angel, and nowhere near a Nephilim, but we have some watered down abilities such as slightly faster healing." Sam and Dean now noticed that the cuts from the silver dagger were gone entirely. 

Marion continues, "But, we can't heal others, and it wouldn't protect us from an instantly fatal wound, but it does speed up the healing process considerably, stamina, speed, and strength are all slightly better than a human's. Again not a huge thing, but it helps, and we both have supernatural perception like being able to see hellhounds, for example. We then also have our individual powers you can call them; I have the ability to perform some telepathy, I can see and sift through memories but also project images and snapshots into other people's minds for viewing and then, of course, I can dream walk to an extent. Still, it's not perfect, and I don't have complete control over it." 

DJ waits a moment before adding his contribution, "Meanwhile, my x-men powers are far less interesting. I can sense and perceive the emotions of other people just by being around them, kind of like if their sadness, happiness, guilt, etc. were radiating off of them; additionally, I can slightly manipulate emotions, not to any extreme but almost in a suggestive way to slightly alter one's mood. This also comes with the ability to be a human lie detector to an extent, but I can only really tell if people tell an outright lie, it doesn't work with bending the truth."

"You're a walking chick flick detector and manipulator." Dean chuckles lowly, trying to find humour in this whole situation, but it's not really working, as everyone in the room ignores his comment. 

Marion suddenly looks like she has a thought, "I guess it's also important to know that having powers also come with some weaknesses, for example, an angel blade will do more damage to us than it would an average human but not as much damage as it would to an Angel. Also, anti angel warding and sigils will only incapacitate our powers, but we can still move freely-" She again is cut off by her brother. 

"However, we need to be careful not to be caught with a banishing sigil as we won't be banished. We'll just be knocked out on the spot, it's not fun, it results in a massive hangover," he shudders as if trying to shake off an unpleasant memory, "speaking of which we also have a higher tolerance to alcohol than we should." 

Sam looks like he's trying to characterize everything in his brain to file away from later, no doubt, to write down somewhere. However, both of the children would probably be venomously against being written into a bestiary. "So none of the big stuff, healing, teleportation, flying, smiting, wings, immortality, etcetera?"

"No, none of that." Marion responds, "although we can bloom flowers and plants for whatever reason, Naomi didn't have an answer for that."

"I used to be able to, back when I was full power, before coming to earth semi-permanently after rescuing Dean. I used to find it calming to be able to create something when all you see is destruction and fighting."

"I never knew you could do that."

"You never asked."

The room was starting to feel a bit lighter, even though there were countless unanswered and unasked questions, a lot of things to say in a place full of people that don't know how to say what needs to be said. 

"So, can we eat?" Jack finally pipes up, breaking more of the tension resulting in Dean and Sam to laugh and the others to smile softly. 

"Yes, Jack, of course." 

"We'll get out of your hair." Marion says as she and her brother go to get up but were met with a chorus of four 'No's.' Resulting in the kids faltering and not knowing whom to look at. 

"I mean, you can stay here while we eat, you must also be hungry." Sam let out in a breath with wide eyes, not wanting to let the kids leave their site just yet, still convinced this is some kind of dream. Maybe they were attacked by a Djinn, though he's not sure whos nightmare or fantasy this would be. 

"I picked up lots of food; there is always at least double what we need, I'm indecisive when ordering food." Jack just grinned at Marion and DJ, which must be contagious because they started smiling and relaxing a bit more as well. 

"Okay." they both whispered in response, which set everyone into motion. 

They all ended up seated at the dining room table, which was thankfully large enough to accommodate all six of them, Sam Dean and Cas were sitting on one side of the table, and all three kids were now located opposite them. Jack went about removing all of the food from all the bags; he wasn't kidding when he said he went overboard. The receipt from the restaurant 'Culvers' was a lot longer than it should be to feed four people; there was enough food here to feed an army, well maybe not an army but even with six adults, this was going to be way more food then they were capable of eating. 

Culvers Receipt

1 ButterBurger Original

1 Wisconsin Swiss Melt

1 Sourdough Melt

1 Grilled Reuben Melt

1 Culver's Deluxe

1 Mushroom & Swiss ButterBurger

1 Buffalo Chicken Tenders

1 Grilled Chicken Sandwich

1 Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich 

1 Butterfly Jumbo Shrimp Basket

1 North Atlantic Cod Filet Sandwich

1 Beef Pot Roast Sandwich

1 Pork Tenderloin Sandwich

1 Garden Fresco Salad

1 Cranberry Bacon Bleu Salad

1 Chicken Cashew Salad 

1 George's Chili

1 Stuffed Pepper Soup

1 Tomato Florentine Soup

1 Potato with Bacon Soup

1 Wild and Brown Rice Chicken Soup

  1. X-L Crinkle Cut Fries



1 Coleslaw

1 Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

1 Steamed Broccoli

1 Chili Cheddar Fries

1 Onion Rings

1 Pretzel Bites

1 Lemon Ice with Peaches

1 Lemon Ice with Strawberries

1 Blueberry Lemon Ice Cooler

1 Banana Split

1 Caramel Cashew Sundae 

1 Cookie Dough Concrete Mixer

1 Reese's Chocolate Salted Caramel Concrete Mixer

1 Oreo Concrete Mixer

1 Rootbeer Float

They end up just grabbing plates, bowls, glasses, and silverware from the kitchen to treat the massive amount of food as a buffet-style, everyone taking a few items for themselves as well as portioning some of the items if they didn't want to take the entire thing. Cas opted to eat the lemon ice with peaches despite not needing to eat, but the molecules were the simplest and thus just resulted in a mildly sweet taste but still tasting bland compared to anyone else eating it. Sam and Dean filled Jack in on what he had missed before coming back to the lodge resulting in the Nephilim looking like he was about to burst with questions that were pushed off until they were at least finished eating. 

By the time the five of them were done, they had made a considerable dent into the pile of food, but there was still a lot of uneaten food an copious amount of melting ice cream and desserts. Sam and Jack stuffed the uneaten food and frozen treats in the respective fridge and freezer while Cas and Dean collected the garbage and cleaned the table, leaving Marion and DJ just to watch the four of them work as they all brushed them off when the kids asked what they could do. 

They all settled back on the couch, this time with everyone sitting, so Marion and DJ felt it was less like an interrogation or that they were in trouble somehow with people they knew but didn't know. 

Silence ensued, which gnawed at everyone because where do they go from here? Obviously, there needs to be a discussion on what the plan was, how the hell they survived so long, literally have a summary of their lives. 

Yet Jack was the one to jump at the chance to ask a question, "does this mean you're also Winchester's? Like by name, obviously, you're Dean's kids with how much the two of you look like him."

The thought hadn't occurred to the other's to ask what their names were. 

"Are Marion and DJ even your real names? Or did you just use that as cover? Dean questioned, wanting to know the answer. 

"Marion is my first name, Naomi named me Marion Cassandra Winchester," there was a joking sound coming from Sam while Dean shot him a glare, careful not to meet Cas' eyes. "Marion obviously after Mary, but she didn't want to just stick with Mary because she believed it could become confusing. Cassandra, well, I think that's obvious; I think it was trying to make some amends or something, have your name mean something, honestly. She didn't explain why I think she thought it spoke for itself; she knew Cas meant a lot to you." 

Sam was still chuckling to himself, it was apparent he wanted to make more jokes at his brother's expense, but there can be more time for that later. Eyes turned to DJ, expecting an answer as well, and he shifted in his seat. 

"Ugh... you can probably guess that DJ is short for something; Naomi always referred to my full name being Dean Robert Winchester, but she didn't understand naming conventions, so she always called me DJ so she wouldn't get confused. Robert after Bobby since she knew that he was also like a father to you." DJ looked over to Dean with a guarded expression; Dean let his lip quick up in the hint of a smile, afraid he was going somehow to screw up the kid in front of him.

Sam, ever the now to get the ball rolling, asks a more relevant question.

"What was Amara's plan?"

"The summary? Have Naomi go back in time, steal Dean's stuff from the fertility clinic, go to the alternate universe, impregnant strangers that would be most likely to give up children for adoption, have us grow up in foster care for at least 10 years, Naomi figured out foster family's made of hunters so while we grew up around humans we started our training pretty much as soon as we could walk. Hand to hand combat and traditional weapons. Naomi removed us from Foster care when I was ten to further training from an Angel's perspective and so start preparing us more thoroughly for the mission which of course she didn't explain to the fullest extent until shortly before we came to this world, which was probably a good thing because we would have tried to get out of it, but it's too late for that, the ball is already in motion." Marion expressed while DJ continued to remain quiet, Dean feels like it's like looking at two parts of his personality sitting side by side, it's a little unsettling. 

Sam looked like his whole body was struggling at coming to terms with what's he's been hearing, what more can be thrown at them at this point, "You're just kids, manipulating biology and the well being of people to create soldiers for war." Sam whispered, his eyes suddenly getting misty. 

"It's not the first time that Angels interfered because of the world ending, is it? And you're fighting a war against God which is going to take everything you've got on your side and then some. Besides, kids have been used in wars since the dawn of time whether for fighting or more behind the scenes roles, hell, during world war 1, M15 used Girl Guides as spies to send secret messages."

"The story of Chuck's world is that the Winchester children are always the focus, or at least they have been for a while; he's become obsessed with the two of you. Specifically, one of you has to kill the other. His world has always been left forgotten after he gets the ending that he wants. There is a reason why there haven't been any variation of the two of you with an actual family; Chuck doesn't care about your next generation," Marion pauses, her look becoming more sorrowful as she goes one.

"I guess I have to tell you that Ben, Lisa Breaden's son wasn't your child, though you probably figured that out yourself years ago since his name hadn't appeared on Cain's list, he would have if he had been your descendent. Also, Emma didn't count because she was an Amazon and held no real risk of disrupting Chuck's plan."

"What are you getting at?" Dean asked harshly, wanting them to get to the point; Sam was now looking at the kids in horror, seemingly having figured out the direction that the children were leading them down. While Cas looked pained and his gaze was solely focused on Dean, Dean refused to spare him a glance, worried at what he'd find there. 

Marion couldn't go on, looking like her throat had closed up while trying to will away the angry tears that were forming. DJ thus picked up where his sister left off with obvious pain in his voice as he forced himself to continue. 

"The storyline or script rather never specifies your names as it always just takes them as a given as he just writes that one Winchester sibling would kill the other, never worrying about anything because he would never allow more viable children to be born. The burden of one of you," he signals to Sam and Dean, "killing the other is no longer your burden, technically it hasn't been in three years because it's now on us.

"Naomi sacrificed herself to ensure that our story didn't meet the fate meant for the aforementioned douchbag Sam and Dean. We are the ones set to break the cycle; we were created to throw Chuck off his game while he is weak enough for others to destroy him. Amara had us created for one to kill the other."

The silence that followed was deafening for just three moments. 

One. 

Two.

Three. 

Dean was up and storming out of the room, slamming the front door behind him with a crash before anyone in the room could even think to blink. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> This was originally going to be a 5 scene chapter but I liked where this leaves us for the next chapter. :D  
> Please leave a comment letting me know how you liked the chapter!


	6. What it Means to be Legacies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean digests the information about Marion and DJ, Cas comforts him, Sam and Jack talk to the kids and Marion dreams of the past.

# 

Dean doesn't give it much thought as he slams the door shut behind him. He just stands there outside the door for a moment, the flashing Christmas lights creating a light show across his face, and he knows that he needs to get out of here. Getting some fresh air won't work if he feels suffocated by the Christmas vomit surrounding him. 

So he starts walking briskly, not paying much attention to the direction only that it's away from the lodge; he does momentarily consider getting in baby and just driving off to clear his head. But, he doesn't want to risk doing something foolish right now. He doesn't trust himself enough, and to be honest, the walk will do him some good; it's not exactly something that he often does, or at all. The one with nature thing has always been Sam's thing. 

Yet here he was, strolling in the cooling air, in the middle of nowhere, the fresh breeze sending a slight shiver down his spine. The gravel crunched under his feet as he turned onto a winding path that went through the forest of trees, his mind barely registering that this was the way to the beach area. Once he was in the safety of the trees, he let out a breath that could be read as a relief; the Christmas decorations were no longer within his sights. Instead, the path was illuminated by the faint glow of the moon and the dancing fireflies. 

It doesn't take him long to reach the beach area, five minutes at most, and is then is painfully aware that he didn't actually think this through. Even with it being the middle of July, the air was crisp enough to indicate it would be too cold to go in the water. Dean shifts on his feet for a moment before deicing to throw caution to the wind and begins to kick off his shoes and remove his socks. 

The sand on his bare feet was soothing, calming the racing thoughts in his head and decreasing his racing heart. He then shrugs off his outermost jacket and promptly laying it on the sand before sitting down with his legs stretched out, looking out at the water. It's oddly calming watching the moon's reflection ripple through the water as if it were creating a path out of its light. 

It's a good ten minutes before he hears the faint sounds of footsteps approaching, but Dean doesn't look up or acknowledge that he's heard anything at all, also pointedly ignoring the figure as they slowly come and sit down in the sand beside him. He can sense the blue eyes looking at him in concern, wanting to say something, but also afraid to say the wrong thing, and so the figure lets out a nearly inaudible sigh before turning to watch the water. 

They sit in silence, the only sounds being there breathing, the rustle of the trees behind them, and slight sounds of the water. It's evident that Dean's going to have to be the one to break the silence but the anger and hurt that he's tried to push down, to bury, comes roaring back to the surface. Where does he even begin? He breaths in a shaky breath, uncertain if he'll be able to speak in a normal tone. 

"Why can't I get a break, Cas?" Dean shuts his eyes tight to prevent any tears from falling; he's unsure what emotion he should be feeling right now. 

"Dean-" Cas starts, but Dean cuts him off. 

"Seriously, I thought I was done being surprised by people making life-altering decisions and controlling my entire life, I thought with Billy and the plan with Jack that there might actually be an end to this..." 

Cas stays quiet, not knowing what to say. 

"There are two kids in there that claim to be mine; they are mine, but, fuck the girl looks as old as Sam was when I picked him up saying 'Dad's been on a hunting trip and hasn't been home in a few days.' I don't know how to be a dad, tried that with Ben, and you know how that turned out, Dad tried, but he was so wrapped up in getting revenge, he was a trainer more than a Father." Dean's voice was rough, and Cas was wracking his own brain for something to say that would be appropriate to say. 

In the end, he started with something simple. 

"Bobby was also a father to you and Sam. If I remember correctly, he also had issues with his father, which led him to not wanting to have children of his own. Yet, despite all of that, he tried to be a stable force for you and Sam, tried to give you a sense of normalcy whenever he could, like playing football." Cas paused for a moment, trying to choose his words carefully. "He was also caring, tough, firm and didn't hold back when he believed that somebody was doing something wrong, he never left the life, but that didn't stop him from having a family, he did everything he could to prepare and support the two of you, and in the end, he was so proud of the two of you and saw you as heroes, and he did that despite his own Father." 

There was another pause, and it was evident that Dean wasn't going to jump into the conversation just yet, so Cas continued. 

"Bobby also was extremely adamant regarding the statement that family doesn't end in blood, and while the two kids in there may be of your blood, you've also been a father figure to Jack and Claire." 

Dean coughed and was about to contradict Cas, but Cas continued, "I'm not saying that you've been a perfect parental figure or have always reacted in the right way, but neither have I; it's been constant trial and error trying to strike a balance with the both of them, especially with Claire." While Dean couldn't see Cas cracked a small smile, "additionally, if there is anything I've learned from your assistance of pop culture and movie education is that there is no such thing as being the perfect parent, the important part is that you put the effort in and try. Besides, I'm pretty sure Bobby would be calling you an Idjit right about now." Dean made a sound that must have been a chocked laugh. 

Dean didn't raise his head, so his words were muffled, but Cas was able to make them out anyway, "This must be what mom felt, and I put so much blame on her for leaving and not being a mom... I don't know what to do... Marion already hates me, that much was evident when she dream walked, and I don't even know what the reason is, not that I can't guess or that it even matters."

"There are similarities between your position and what you're mother went through, you both being faced with two adult children you know nothing about, during a time of crisis and the feeling of dread of not knowing what to do."

"Ya-"

"You can then use that experience though to work with Marion and DJ, and you also have the benefit of not having been dead for over thirty years. Ultimately, Mary did everything she did with the two of you in mind, even if some of it was misguided. I have full confidence that you can learn from the past and use the positive experiences that you've had with parental or authority figures to navigate the two kids in there."

"One of them's meant to die, though." Dean's voice breaks; it doesn't matter that he didn't have an active role in their creation, or that he doesn't know the first thing about them, or that at least one of them seems to hate them. Somehow they've already carved their way into his heart, and the mere thought of watching one of his kids die, it's paralyzing, and like all the oxygen has been taken away from the earth. 

Because as scared Dean is about being a Father, what's more, terrifying is the prospect of not being one anymore. 

Dean feels a heavy presence on his shoulder, Cas's hand being a steadying force but also trying to convey comfort. The hand does not move away, and then suddenly, Cas is speaking again. 

"Dean, look at me." 

Dean's gone completely still, afraid any movement or sound will cause him to break completely. 

"Dean."

Slowly Dean lifts his head to turn it towards Cas, but his eyes remain shut, already imagining the stare the angel has trained on him. 

"Dean," Cas repeats more softly, and Dean's not sure if it was the change in tone, or merely the repetitive use of his name, but he slowly opens his eyes wet with tears to look at Cas. 

"I can't promise you that everything will one-hundred percent be alright, but we are going to do our best and do everything it takes to ensure that what Marion told us doesn't have to come to pass. If there is one thing I learned from the apocalypse over a decade ago is that plans and situations change, we are already off-script, and there is nothing that has been brought to light that indicates that there isn't a way to save the children." Cas has Dean's full attention, Blue eyes boring into Green, conveying meaning into every last word. "Those children are Winchesters, they are resilient, won't go down without a fight, and if they are anything like their Father will not take anyone's word for it that there isn't a way out of a situation. I said this when I killed Billy before she became Death, but I'll repeat it, this world needs every last Winchester it can get its hands-on, and I will not let any of you die, not as long as I'm alive to do anything about it."

They continued to stare at each other intensely, Cas with fierce determination, and Dean with what can only be a glimmer of apprehension and hope breaking through from the debilitating fear. 

Before Cas can even think about the consequences, he learns over to Dean and pulls him into a hug. Dean freezes but, after a moment, relaxes and returns the hug so tight that if Cas were human, they would have been sure to at least fracture something. Dean's not sure how long they stay like that, not that it matters. He also ignores the voice in his head, yelling about personal space because that doesn't matter right now. If Dean were honest with himself, he'd say he was not only scared but terrified of the possibilities of what's to come and Cas' is not only a beacon of hope but also a calming force. 

Eventually, they pull apart from one another, Dean feeling a little bit lighter than he had. They both turn back to look at the water, watching the reflection of the moon dance amongst the waves. 

Dean's positive that if he tried to say anything to the angel that all that would come out were incoherent sounds or simply nothing at all, so Dean does the only thing he can think of and prays to Castiel despite being only a few inches from him. 

_Thank You._

It seems that there should be so much more to say, to go over, and to get out, but at this moment, they are both okay, and that's all that matters. 

* * *

Everyone stares at the door that just slammed shut, not knowing what to say or do next. 

Cas is the first to recover and turns to look at Sam, "Maybe you should go after him?" 

Sam had gone visibly more pale, but his eyes remained trained on the kids with a look filled with fear, disbelief, and deep anger. 

"Sam?" Cas tries again, trying to get his attention, and this time Sam does move his head to look at Cas. Cas continues, "do you want to go talk with Dean?"

"No... I don't even know what to say to him right now. I think... I think you should go talk with him; he's probably running things through his brain that he won't want to talk to me about... he might talk to you." Sam finally chokes out the words. He couldn't possibly try and console his brother or help him through his thoughts when he couldn't even get control over himself. 

Cas studies Sam for a moment before nodding and heads for the door, turning back when his hand's on the door handle, "I'll bring him back when he's ready." Cas hesitates before directing his gaze to Marion and DJ, "We will figure this out, neither of you is going anywhere if I have anything to do about it." 

Sam watches as Cas closes the door behind him, and suddenly Sam in a room filled with children, three of them if Jack is counted. Jack looks pained, looking at Marion and DJ, he wants to stop all of it to stop their pain, but he doesn't know how.

Marion and DJ suddenly both stand up, or rather Marion gets up first, and DJ follows, which brings Sam out of his thoughts to look at the kids in confusion. 

"It's been a long day, and I think we've relayed enough information for tonight," DJ speaks calmly, but his stance is off. "We can regroup in the morning to figure out the rest of the case."

"Good night," Marion speaks and starts towards the door, but a firm hand pulls her back, and she looks back in confusion at Jack, who's now grasping her arm like his life depended on it. 

"Don't go. You're kind of like a sibling or a cousin. I don't want the two of you to disappear." Jack's still getting reacquainted with his soul resulting in his emotions being a little more extreme than they should be. 

Marion carefully covers Jack's hand with her own and gives him a small smile, "we're not going anywhere, at least not yet. We were just going to go back to our room." 

"But can you stay just a bit longer, just until Dean comes back?"

Marion smiles softly, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes, "I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Jack." 

Sam watches the exchange with wide eyes. Marion's tone is careful like she was talking to a small child, which Jack kind of is Sam thinks to himself. Sam's heart squeezes a little tighter because Marion reminds him so much of Dean, the facial expression, the older sibling's way of speaking, and overall demeanor. DJ may look more like Dean, but it's obvious who got more of the personality traits. 

Sam slowly gets up, just watching the three kids and suddenly getting the image of a possible future without Chuck, where the world isn't always fighting to remain alive. A life with Dean, Cas, Eliene, Jack, Claire, Jody, Alex, and the two new kids in front of him. It's so domestic that it hurts, there is also still envy, a little green-eyed monster in the back of his head being angry that Dean's the one given this gift, even with the horrible reasons behind it. 

But, no matter what emotions he's feeling, his situation isn't the most important in the room, because no matter how much confusion, anger, frustration, fear, longing that he's feeling, it can't possibly match what the two kids must be feeling right now. 

Coming face to face with family they've never met, their own father, Sam remembers meeting his mom for the first time and being so overwhelmed and having expectations; he can't imagine knowing your family is alive and not being able actually to know them until you're prepared to die. 

He takes a couple steps forward towards them, apprehension on both DJ and Marion's faces but a look of understanding on Jack's. He pulls the two kids into a hug, slightly awkward due to the height differences and the fact both kids tense up at the contact. Physical comfort wasn't something Winchester's generally did outside times of dying or relief their not dead but meeting your niece and nephew should qualify. It took a few moments, but the kids did eventually hug back, with surprising strength as if they were trying to ground themselves.

They separate, and suddenly Jack's there giving both Marion and DJ a hug, seemingly copying Sam's actions, and conveying a silent message, none of them are really good with expressing feelings, but words aren't the only way to get a message across. 

"I'm not going to pretend that I know what you're going through because even by our standards, what you've been through is fucked up, but, Cas was right, we aren't going to go down without a fight, and we protect one another, that includes the two of you now," Sam speaks as Jack lets go of his hold on Marion and DJ. 

Sam continues, "so stay here, for now, no one's going to kick you out of here, and I think Jack and I'd like you to stay for a bit longer, at least until it's actually a reasonable time to go to sleep. We'll worry about the case tomorrow; there isn't anything we can do about that tonight."

For a brief moment, Sam thinks that they are still going to leave but end up settling back down on the couch. Jack grabs the remote and turns on the TV, only for Scooby-Doo to pop up on the screen. Sam actually laughs when he recognizes the episode like the one he, Dean, and Cas got sucked into a couple of years ago, he's even watched the episode a couple of times since then, each time it feels like a fever dream. 

He turns his attention to the kids who are now looking at it funny, probably because he just started laughing with no explanation. 

"This is the episode that we got sucked into the one time after fighting a giant stuffed dinosaur, it sounds insane, and really it kind of was." 

Sam turns to look at Jack, "Has anyone told you the story, Jack?" 

Jack slowly nods his head, "Cas explained to me what happened while we were watching cartoons, he said Dean was ecstatic." 

"Ya, he was, like a kid in a candy store really," Sam chuckles before going into the story. "We landed Scooby-Doo land thinking that a trickster just turned us animated or something, so we got in the animated baby and started driving. You should have scenes Dean's face when he saw the Mystery Machine outside the Malt Shop and then his face when he realized the actual Scooby-Gang were there, in the flesh, well, in animation while we were animation anyway." 

Sam gestures towards the Tv, "We ended up working the case with them since Dean already knew how the episode went in theory and really what else were we going to do. We didn't realize that Cas had been transported as well until be caught up to us, and Dean almost punched in him the face. Cas took the experience in stride, I think, nothing really phases him, but he was a little perturbed to meet Scooby since he was able to talk. Just like in the show, the traps were elaborate, things went wrong, and people need to be saved, and the way things happened deviated slightly from the actual show. Dean was trying to hit on Daphne, but she wasn't having any of it. However, Velma did have a thing to me, which, to be honest, was a little weird. When we finally got out of the show, Dean wouldn't shut up about it for ages; honestly, I think that he was trying to figure out a way to get back there. 

Both of the kids were just looking at him with a mix of astoundment and humour. 

"You live extraordinary, strange lives, and yet you weren't even phased with being sucked into the TV and being a cartoon," DJ states, seemingly like he doesn't know what to do with the information that he's been given. 

"Ya but they've done that before, kind of, remember, Gabriel got a hold of them and transported them into TV land, and they had to play parts in Dr. Sexy MD, CSI, that Japnese game show and a sitcom," Marion says matter and DJ just nods his head as if he remembers something, which is what reminds Sam that they shouldn't know that.

"Wait, how do you even know about that? I wouldn't think Naimi would have known unless they were able to get a hold of Gabriel's memories somehow..." Sam trails of seeing the guilty and embarrassed expression on the kid's faces. 

"How?" Sam demands, not harsh but more apprehension and a sinking feeling in his stomach that he's not going to want to know the answer. 

The kids look at each other for a moment, "Not to have to bring up the past or anything, but remember when Chuck was just Chuck to you? Remember why you didn't like him even in the first place?"

Sam's face suddenly goes a bit pale. 

"The supernatural books," Sam whispered in actual horror. "How?"

DJ gives him an almost apologetic smile, "Naomi had brought them with her. Apparently, Amara thought it would be a good way for us to get to know you, kind of since they don't include everything about you, but it was able to provide a lot more history than Naomi was able to provide."

"But, there was definitely stuff in there Dean's kids shouldn't have read, oh my god, how much did you actually read?" Sam wanted to bury his head in his hands. 

"Um, I've read all the books, though Naomi did remove sections she thought would be unfit for us to read based on you being family since Naomi used to say that humans have weird social rules. That being said, not everything was taken out."

"I've read what DJ deemed the most relevant since there is no way I was reading over 300 books if I didn't have to, but even then, I skipped around, I was more interested in the journal."

"Oh my god." This time Sam does put his head in his hands, trying to block off the embarrassment. 

"Do you still have access to the books? I've never been given a chance to read any of the writings, I despise Chuck, but I've always wanted to know more about their lives before I came around. Dean's always been very vocal about his rules about them not being discussed." Sam can hear Jack ask. 

"Um, we don't have all of them, but we have a good portion of them, you can look at them later if you want," DJ replies, which brings Sam back into action. 

"Nope, we are not talking about this anymore, end of the discussion, those books do not exist, and please, for the love of anybody that's not chuck, do NOT tell Dean you know about the books. 

Sam turns up the volume on the TV so that Scooby-Doo effectively blocks anyone's ability to talk anymore about those books. Dean was going to want to bring Naomi back to life just to punish her for this. 

Sam doesn't see, but the three kids just exchange glances with one another and simply sit back against the back of the couch to watch the screen. Not saying another word and the air finally feels lighter, and Sam begrudgingly smiles a bit at the thought that maybe things will work out. 

When Dean and Cas finally do return, they both look a little rough, but Dean doesn't even have time to say anything before the kids crash into him, giving him a bruising hug before moving on to Cas, leaving his brother and the Angel perplexed but each returning the hugs tightly. 

Watching the kids hug Dean and Cas brought another thought to Sam's head; they were raised in foster care and by an Angel with a mission from Amara; the kids most likely had a less stable upbringing even compared to him, and Dean, and probably had even fewer support systems. What Sam realizes if that what these kids needed was a family, and now they have a chance to have it, and maybe this was what he and Dean needed to maintain their motivation and determination to win the fight against Chuck. A reminder for what's worth fighting for. 

* * *

Marion walks out of the bathroom and quietly crawls into her bed, doing her best not to disturb DJ, who is already asleep if his snoring is any indication. Her brain is firing off a mile a minute with everything that's happened in just the last 24 hours trying to make sense of it all and not to panic, but it's a little hard not to. No matter how strong she appears or how strong she thinks she is, no person is infallible, she was raised to be a fighter, a hunter, a warrior, raised with a particular mission in mind and compartmentalizing that was easy when the mission was a distant nightmare, but it's now started to take shape. She grips tightly at the amulet around her neck and slowly drifts to sleep, but with sleep doesn't come rest; instead, it's an unwelcome trip down memory lane. 

\--------------

_Marion holds the amulet in the palm of her hand like it's the most precious thing that's ever been in her hands. She wills the tears away but just stares at the strange design with a look of wonder. This is the first thing she's had that connects herself to somewhere, to someone, other than her brother. She has a family, and this little trinket is a reminder of that._

_"Why are you giving this to me?"_

_"Heirlooms tend to be passed down to the firstborn child by human customs. It also holds a significant amount of power because if it glows, it means that you are in trouble and you must flee as quickly as you can. See the amulet glows when in the presence of God."_

_"The God that you explained we're supposed to help kill?" Marion's eyes flick up to meet Naomi's, searching for confirmation, Naomi nods._

_"Amara used her power to prevent God from being able to track or pinpoint the Amulet's location, so it's purpose is to act as a warning defense, but also used to prove who you are to Dean and Sam when you finally meet. You having the amulet is something that they won't be able to ignore."_

_Marion stares for another moment before slowly putting the cord around her neck; the amulet settled against her chest._

_"Just be sure to hide it when you go out; it's unlikely that you will run into anyone that recognizes it, at least in this world, but it's best to be hypervigilant." Naomi cautioned while gesturing towards it._

_"Thank you," Marion breathed, still feeling a little surreal. Marion suddenly becomes more alert turning her gaze back to Naomi with slight hesitation. "Can you tell me about my father? What was he like? Were you friends?"_

_Naomi stiffened for but a moment before relaxing to her normally ridged posture, but slowly nodded all the same._

_"Your Father does not care for me, for I did some things that I believed to be in Heaven's best interest and followed any orders that I had been given. These instances resulting in your Father's deep hatred for him, and I will be honest, and I was not fond of him either due to his personality traits, demeanor, and questionable actions."_

_"Then why are you the one to be here? If you hate him, you must hate us."_

_"I'm here because I was persuaded to do so in order to protect my world from God, I don't hate you, and I don't hate your Father. I have realized that Winchester's are important to continue with the story being told, I have come to respect Dean in a way, and quite honestly, I glean hope from you and your brother because when you succeed, there will truly be peace on Earth."_

_"So what's he like" Mation repeated._

_Naomi shifted in her seat and just stared at the child for a moment as if contemplating her entire existence, and she honestly might have been._

_"Dean...Your father grew up with his younger brother Samuel, though I believe Dean's always called him Sammy. Much like you've had to take responsibility for your brother, your father had to raise your uncle even though he's only four years old because your grandfather was set on getting revenge for your grandmother's death. He was raised and trained to become a hunter as soon as he was able to hold a gun, though he wouldn't learn of his legacy status for decades to come. He and your uncle are considered the best in the business, and I've heard Castiel say Dean's motto is 'Saving people. Hunting things. The family business.' Which is even more fitting now that you are your brother exist." Naomi paused to give the child a small smile before continuing._

_"His most prized possession is his car, a 1967 Chevy Impala which I've heard to him refer to as 'baby,' he and your uncle grew up in that car and lived out of it until they were in their 30s. He has an encyclopedia knowledge of movies and music but has a strong preference for Westerns and classic rock. He's also extremely immature making crass and morbid jokes, can be hot-headed, and is naturally distrustful of everyone around him but he's also loyal and believes in the family almost to a fault, but I've come to realize that's not a bad thing and in fact, I believe it's what's kept the world alive as long as it has."_

\------------------------------

_Marion looks over her journal as she reminisces about her old life._

_In High School, Marion doesn't really have friends, never has. Nobody wants to be friends with the kid who looks like they could kill you with a single glance but even when she was younger. Nobody wanted to be friends with a strange new kid that wore tattered clothes, only smiled when talking back or causing a scene, and shows up to school with random bruises. It would be social suicide for them._

_So Marion spends her time doing useful things like undergoing extra physical training; she already does combat training with Naomi but tracks and weight lifting and good additions. Other than that, her classes are filled with open/workplace credits because she's not going to college; it's not that she's not smart, it's that she already knows what her life outlook looks like. She has auto-shop because it makes her feel a bit connected to the Father that she's never met and because she doesn't want to get screwed over by mechanics that up the price because they think a girl won't know what she's talking about. She also takes advanced First Aid, because obviously, that's going to come in handy, wilderness survival course because Naomi doesn't really understand human limitations, drama because her entire life is a performance and a co-op credit to get basic customer service work experience will help with finding odd jobs._

_Marion reads the last line of the entry she's starring at 'A Jack of all trades, a Master of None, but much better than a Master of one.'_

\-----------------

_"Quick quiz, boy. Who are we and what are we doing here?" The burly man in the front seat barked over his shoulder. DJ did his best not to flinch._

_They have moved yet again to another foster home, and again this one hunted monsters. The difference was their foster guardian this time actively took them on every hunt, instead of just focusing on training. Marion was only ten and DJ only a mere seven years old._

_"We're the Kenny's, you're our father who works as an Inspector for the IRS, normally Aunt Vivian would be watching us while you're traveling for work, but she's in the hospital with pneumonia, so you had to bring us along," DJ answers, keeping his tone as even as he can._

_"Good boy."_

_"When we're in town, keep your eyes and ears peeled, gossip in a town this size spreads like wildfire, and you might pick up something relevant to the case since no one is going to second guess a paid of chubby-cheeked kids._

_"Yes, Sir."_

\----------------- 

_The sky was beginning to darken when the car finally pulled into the long drive, halting to a stop on the dirt path just to the left of the tiny two-story house._

_Marion was looking out the window in curiosity marked with fear, is this house going to be the last one?_

_"Grab your bags and wake up your brother; you can put your stuff in your room before we go over-rules and responsibilities." The plump old woman bellows as she walks into the house, leaving Marion and DJ alone._

_DJ wakes up from his nap when Marion gently shakes his shoulder and quickly gets him out of the broken car seat and out of the car, having to scootch along with the back seat since her legs were so short. She grips DJ's hand tightly, but careful not to hurt the three-year-old and grabs the two half-filled garbage bags on the floor bed before pushing the car door closed and pulling her half-asleep brother into the house with the garbage bags dragging behind them._

_They were shown to their room, and after dumping the bags unceremonially on the single twin bed that she and DJ were meant to share, they were brought to what must be the living room slash dining room area. Marion sits on the couch, pulling her brother up to sit beside her, and he immediately leans against her in fear._

_The old woman returns with a giant binder and plops it down on the wooden coffee table in front of Marion. "First things first, you are responsible for yourselves meaning that if you make a mess, you clean it if your hungry, and it's not dinner time, or I'm out of the house that you will cook and clean up after yourselves. Old enough to walk and talk, old enough to pull your weight around here, am I understood."_

_"Yes ma'am," Marion whispers with a single nod, careful not to break eye contact as she didn't want to be seen as disrespectful._

_"Good. You, missy, will also be in charge of keeping your brother entertained and on his best behavior during lessons and just in general. He is your responsibility, understood?"_

_"Of course."_

_"That binder there is your schedule, it dictates chores, activities, lesson plans, and which days you'll be attending school and which days you won't be. There is also a basic lesson plan for your brother that I expect you to help him with, so his communication and general skills evolve to exceed where they should be at his age. Do you have any questions."_

_"No, ma'am."_

_"Then get to bed, wake up call is at six, and we'll start on basic weapon information."_

_Marion simply nods at the woman before shuffling off the couch and grabbing the giant binder off the table, it must be at least half her weight, and she almost drops it. Indicating for her brother to follow her, she turns and leads the way to their new room._

_She silently gets them both ready for bed, making sure to brush their teeth, wash their faces, and gets her brother into his single pair of pajamas so he can be more comfortable. Thankfully the bed is low to the ground, so it isn't too difficult to pick DJ up and tuck him into one side of the bed. She switches off the light and carefully makes her way back to the bed, climbing on the other side and lying down. DJ's already fast asleep by the time Marion lays her head down on the lumpy pillow._

_As a single tear escapes, she closes her eyes and vows to protect her brother at all costs._

\-------

_"But, she's right there!" Marion exclaimed, gesturing wildly towards the blond woman sitting in the diner, who was none the wiser about the altercation taking place outside just out of her view._

_"You know we can't, and it could mess with the timeline, she could figure out who we are." DJ insisted on trying to steer her away back towards the car._

_"I just want to say hi to her; she doesn't even need to say anything back. I'll put on sunglasses to distort my face, come on, aren't you even a little curious."_

_"Of course, I am, but it's too risky; we don't know how it would change anything; it could jeopardize everything."_

_Marion deflates a little and just turns her gaze towards the blond woman who was now drinking coffee and flipping through an actual newspaper. "I'm sorry, I know, it's just, she's still alive, and she won't be when we're finally able to reveal ourselves."_

_While it's usually Marion comforting DJ, sometimes it needs to be the other way around as Marion's always been a shoot first, act first and then ask for forgiveness type of person. DJ puts a steadying hand on her shoulder, "I know, but at least we were able to see her from afar before it happens. There's a reason they didn't give us the exact details of when it would happen, so we wouldn't be tempted to try and change it. Come on; Kat's going to be waiting for us."_

_Marion lets herself be lead away in the opposite direction with a final look over her shoulder, trying to commit the face to memory._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This was actually supposed to be the second half of Chapter 5 but I decided that it would be too long without cutting it. 
> 
> Also sorry this was late (by my standards since I haven't actually set an upload schedule)
> 
> The next chapter will see them working the case and the conclusion of the case since I want to move the story back to the main plot. 
> 
> Comments are always welcome! <3


	7. Climatic or Anti-Climatic?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They work the case and there are emotional moments all around.

Dean squints as his brain starts to acknowledge the sunlight beaming through the living area window; soft voices are coming from somewhere behind him. His head is pounding despite the fact he didn't hit the bottle before going to sleep or rather crashing on the large couch while Castiel watched some sort of nature documentary on mute. 

It takes Dean a moment to shed the sleep from his brain, and flashes from the night before start filtering in, and in an instant is overwhelmed with the waterfall of emotions that punch into his gut unexpectantly. 

_It wasn't a dream_

Dean suddenly wants to burrow himself deeper into the couch in order to not deal with reality, but that's not realistic. He can't even afford to take the time to process last night since they still need to do what they came here for, kill the monster that's been drowning people. 

Dean forces himself into a sitting position resulting in the blanket covering him falls to the ground; Cas must have covered him after falling asleep. He scrubs his hands across his face, rubbing the remainder of sleep from his eyes before getting up to stretch. The couch might have been a lot more comfortable than their standard motel experience, but it still was a long shot from the memory foam he has waiting for him back at the bunker. 

He turns towards where the voices were coming from, and his mind momentarily goes blank because it wasn't just Sam Jack and Cas in the dining room area; Marion and DJ were also there chatting away while eating breakfast. Someone must have run out to get. It's almost surreal to look at because it's so domestic, so normal. 

Dean just moves towards the Kitchen on autopilot. 

"Good Morning Dean," Cas says, handing dean a large coffee and shoves a plate of food into his hands before returning to his own seat. Everyone else seemingly taking that as a queue to look over to him and say various variations of 'good morning.' 

The tension that existed last night seemed to have evaporated, Dean noted, as it was obvious that everyone had changed gears to focus on the case at hand. The sooner the case is over, the sooner they can get back to the bunker. 

While everyone else was still eating, DJ started to fill in the pieces from what wasn't presented last night regarding the actual case. 

"We actually came across this case last year, but at the time, we didn't really think anything of it. While the number of drownings and the time frame of them seemed a bit suspicious in the long run for the region, it wasn't that odd for people to die by drowning close to Christmas due to people doing stupid things on bodies of water that aren't completely frozen. It wasn't until the cases over the last week that they started listing some of them as suicides due to Christmas stress, but the Christmastime Suicide spike is a myth. Actually, recent studies from several countries show that rates in December and on Christmas, in particular, tend to be the lowest of the year..." DJ trails off when he realizes he's rambling, and everyone is watching him. 

_He's a nerd,_ Dean thinks. 

"You know a lot about psychology?" Sam asked, quirking an eyebrow and generally looking interested. Dean already knows that they are going to geek out over school and things that he's definitely not going to understand. 

_But ultimately, you're going to be proud of both of them—a_ small voice in Dean's head chimes in. 

"Ya, I loved it in high school, and I've been able to take online college courses over the last year or so through one of my aliases; I won't be able to actually graduate, but that's not a big concern for me." DJ shrugged, trying to brush it off as nonchalance, but there is something in his demeanour that sends a pang through Dean's chest, and he imagines Sam's feeling that too because DJ reminds him so much of Sam at 18 declaring he was going to Stanford, and it hurts to think about that. 

"You could when all this is over. Sam's gotten really good with the hacking and black hat tricks. I'm sure he could rig the system. Maybe get you enrolled in on-campus classes to get the experience. Hell, if he's already going to the trouble, maybe sign himself up as well, maybe actually get your Law degree." DJ's looking at Dean with wide eyes. That would be comical if it weren't for the genuine surprise being having something to look forward to with Chuck gone. 

Dean shifts his attention to his brother, and Sam's just looking at him with surprise and confusion written across his face. Which fair, talking about going to school and encouraging it isn't a Dean thing to do, at least not since Sam finished high school but having something to look forward to might tip the scale in their favour. 

"We apparently have Amara on our side, Death on our side, and the Empty on our side, or at; east, they have pledged their allegiance against Chuck. There are only two possibilities, one, we lose against Chuck, but the entire world gets destroyed in the process with no guarantee than Heaven or Hell will exist either. Or, we win and have a chance for actual downtime without the world constantly being at risk of ending. Might as well start making plans. We deserve to be happy."

Sam just continues to look stunned, but mutters out a "fair enough."

Dean doesn't catch all three of the kids shooting glances as Cas or the slight flinch that Cas exhibits. 

DJ is then joined by Marion to finish their debrief of information, bouncing back and forth, basically finishing each other's thoughts, kind of what you'd expect from twin telepathy or something. 

"Back to the case, basically, the suicide thing was sketchy, so we decided to check it out."

"We were able to compare what we found from crime scenes to the data that we had and determined that it was a Nakki. We had experienced them before back in our other world when Naomi took us to Lapland to meet with some Sami hunters."

"Basically what I told Dean and Sam last night was that they are a shape-shifting water spirit originating from Finland. They feed off of sacrificing people's happiness in order to protect the lakes, which are their homes."

"They mostly take the shape of men because they believe that women are much better protectors of the water, and their happiness is more pure; the translation on that part was a little wonky."

"However, we were slightly wrong about the information that we provided you last night because we were working on the assumption that the Nakki that are in Finland would be exactly the same as the ones we found here."

"James, however, contacted me early this morning to really that the American Nakki evolved to be more a mix of a demonic Jinn than the siren analogy that we used yesterday. With a kiss, they are able to transfer some sort of toxin to the other person, which puts themselves in the mindset of living their fantasy by making them believe that doing the Nakki's bidding and sacrificing themselves is their fancy."

Marion was about to continue but was cut off by Dean. 

"Who's James?" 

Marion blinked slowly before answering. "A friend, a hunter, but they mostly act in a supporting role, doing research, scavaging for weapons and ingredients, basically being a ringmaster for fellow hunters."

Dean wants to ask more about this mystery person, but what right does he have to ask? He's just going to have to believe that the kids know how to spot a lion in sheep clothing. Dean just nods at the kids trying to convey a look of understanding. 

"Anyway, there is a spell in order to get rid of them, but the process is more complicated than we originally thought. In order to kill them, they all need to be corraled into one body of water, which can be done by trapping the leader in the body of water with sigils surrounding the area. They apparently will then put out a distress signal."

"Once they are all in the water, there are specific iron-rich sedimentary rocks that need to be thrown into the water accompanied by a spell. This will keep them at bay and trapped in the water and also incapacitate them from being able to fight back. The rocks will also function in a way to purify the water to prevent my future goers from dying and becoming Nakki themselves. Where they differ from a spirit and are more related to Djinn is that actually to kill them is they need to be either shot or stabbed with silver, but the medium doesn't have to be dipped in lambs blood."

"This all seems unnecessarily complicated." Jack pipes in, finally joining the conversation. He also appears to be eating the leftover ice cream from yesterday. 

_Thankfully his metabolism isn't that of an actual three-year-old._

"I honestly thought when I found this case that it would be a simple one, and yet this is one of the more involved cases that we've had in a while," Sam says with a slight frown. 

"So how are we going to do this? Does anybody have a plan?" Dean asks, downing the rest of his coffee while being under the impression that he's going to simultaneously need a lot of caffeine and a lot of booze to get through the rest of the day."

"DJ and I were thinking about that, and we basically have two things we can actively do to be productive on this case. The first is to set up the area in which we want to trap them. We actually already determined what the next body of water is going to be based on the pattern of the first four crime scenes. While the second thing is actually finding the leader and tricking them into leading us to the next sacrificial body of water." 

"So basically, we were thinking of breaking into two groups myself Jack and Dean to go set up the area with the sigils since it's actually going to be an involved process carving sigils into the surround tree trunks. Meanwhile, Marion, Castiel, and Sam with focus their efforts on finding the ringleader and keeping a tail on them or coming up with a ruse to get them to pick Marion as their next potential victim."

"You want to use your sister as bait?" Cas asked, his eyes furrowing in confusion and almost annoyance as if he already knew where this plan was headed. 

Marion chimes in, rolling her eyes, "yes, it makes the most sense-"

"But-"

"I meet the demographic of the other victims, and it would provide an easy way to have them lead up back to the water without them setting off a warning signal to the other Nakki, thus making our efforts worthless."

"It's no more or less reckless than some of the plans you guys have put in motion," DJ added before taking a sip of the green drink in front of him. 

"What about the supplies we're going to need? You said something about rocks and a spell?" Sam asked. 

"James is currently using his contacts in order to source the right type of rocks and to ensure the spell he found will indeed work. Depending on how far away he is, I'll meet him probably half way to collect the goods. He's already in the state, but he needs to be in Quebec at some point tomorrow morning." DJ responds, and Sam just nods. 

"I guess all of this is settled then, might as well get to work; sooner we fix this case, the sooner we get to follow the yellow brick road home."

* * *

Dean finds it weird driving the Impala with both passengers sitting in the back seat. DJ had tried to explain to Jack that he could sit in the front and that he didn't mind sitting in the back, not seeing it as a big deal. However, Jack was adamant about sitting in the back with DJ, which apparently was just to talk his ear off and tell as many stories as he possibly could. 

Jack was the most unphased about the whole child reveal a thing, which honestly shouldn't be surprising since he himself was born and then transformed into the body of a young 20 something in a matter of seconds. Nothing could really phase Jack, at least not really in so many ways; he's so childlike, but he's almost too wise for his age in others. 

DJ, for his part, didn't look annoyed or put out by Jack's enthusiasm; in fact, he was actively encouraging it by asking questions and engaging in the tales Jack's telling tales about his past three years on earth. What it was like in the beginning, how Dean had been angry at him for existing, how desperate he was to get Cas back not only because he chose him as a Father but because he thought it was the best way to make Dean happy. He went on to tell the whole story about the tombstone case, and none of the stories were very linear. Jack seemingly tried to word-vomit everything out at once, almost like he was afraid he wouldn't get the chance to finish his stories later. 

Dean, however, didn't contribute to the conversation, generally, at a loss for what to say, he's basically got his two sons in the back of the car, and he doesn't know how to talk to them, head still reeling with the bombshells that were revealed last night. He eventually tunes them out and lives in his head a bit until his phone starts blaring. 

It was Cas calling to tell them that there was, another attack last night, but the reason we didn't hear about it until mid-morning was that the victim had survived, meaning crime scene investigators compromised the location Dean and the boys were heading to. 

"So, what do we do now?" Jack asked, watching Dean in the rearview mirror. 

Before Dean could answer, DJ pipes up as he seemingly starts rummaging around in the bag, he insisted on bringing with him. "We move to the next one in the pattern. They won't try and return to the one they tried to use last night, at least not until they are sure that the area isn't being surveilled."

"Do you know where the next body of water is?"

"Not yet, but I will. I can tell you, though, that we're headed in the wrong direction currently. We need to be heading North-West if my general guidelines are correct. I'll have the actual location pinned in about 10 minutes." DJ explains, pulling out his laptop to help the search. Presumably, Dean's not even going to try and understand what DJ is going to do on that thing. 

They eventually reach the point where the Impala could go no further, at least not without risking getting stuck or damaged. Dean's not fond of the idea of leaving Baby in the middle of nowhere but acknowledged that there wasn't another option; also, it was highly unlikely for anyone to come across her. 

Naturally, DJ takes the lead since he's the only one who truly knows where they are going. Meanwhile, Jack is rattling off questions about DJ and Marion's time travelling, learning both fighting techniques and lore, mythology, and participating in various hunts with international hunters. 

Again, Dean wonders if how he feels right now is how his mother felt when she was brought back to life by Amara. Hearing the stories his son tells, and the word son is still taking some getting used to, is mind-boggling. Everything he and his sister has had to go through up until this point is unfair, but I'm sure that's how his mom felt too. She had wanted nothing more than for him and Sam to grow up and have normal lives. They do live normal lives, though, at least for a Winchester. 

Dean's brought out of his reverie by almost running into the two boys that have made an abrupt stop in front of a medium-sized body of water. 

"Is this it?" Dean asks, glancing around to see if he can pick up on anything out of place or strange. 

"According to the data I've looked at, yes. This should be the one that they choose."

"Should?"

"There is always the possibility that they will change their minds or that they are finished with their sacrifices already," DJ explained, rolling his eyes at Dean's tone. 

Jack turns from examining the water. "So, how do we do this?"

DJ starts rummaging through his pack to look for something. 

"The sigils are the most important part because they will bind the Nakki to the area once they are inside as the sigil will grant passage but not exit, which is why you must complete them accurately. A misplaced line could put us all at risk." DJ then hands both Dean and Jack a piece of paper with a sigil on it and what looks like a ceremonial dagger. 

"Kid, I already-" 

DJ just looks up at him, and immediately it reminds him of Sam's bitch face.

"These blades were forged by ancient Scandinavian witches with the sole purpose being to infuse magic into what they create, including sigils, meaning that your Demon blade has nothing on these."

Dean wills his face to remain stoic, but he can tell he's not entirely successful from the small smirk playing on his son's face. 

"Right," Dean grunts out, quietly proud of DJ but not willing to give him the satisfaction. 

"Okay, so for this to work, the entire perimeter of the water needs to be linked together by sigils, they need to be powerful, but they also need to remain unseen."

"How do we do that?"

"Using the surrounding trees, there must not be a gap larger than five feet between the trees with sigils all the way around the water, with the more sigils carved into the trees, the better. The second thing is visibility; they should not be easily visible since they would be sure to tip off the Nakki we are trying to entrap. Thus, carving the sigils into the trunks' bases and covering them up in some way, using moss, sticks, greenery, etcetera. Finally, you need to believe what you want the sigils to do in order to make them effective; the sigil should glow a bright green if you've done it correctly."

They all separate to start at various sections of the perimeter so that they can just move clockwise until the perimeter is more or less secure. 

It's a tedious and time-consuming task, and Dean grows more frustrated with it as time goes on as the sigils have dimmed in their glow over the last half dozen he's completed. 

"Son of a bitch," Dean knocks his head against the tree he's working on as the sigil doesn't glow at all when he's done with it. "God damn it."

Dean hears the twigs snap as someone approaches him, the footsteps almost tentative in nature. Dean just frowns and straightens up from his crouched position, hearing a slight crack in his back as he does so. 

_'Man, I'm getting old.'_ Dean thinks to himself. 

"Having trouble?" DJ states, not even pretending it's a question. 

"The damn thing didn't glow."

"Was your mind wandering?"

"No"

"You're lying," the smirk in DJ's voice has Dean remembering that he's basically a lie detector. Great, because that isn't going to cause any problems at all. 

"This entire situation is insane; I've got two kids that revealed themselves from an alternate reality that are apparently part angel but aren't the same kind of part angel as the Nephilim that is also basically my kid that just got his soul back who is now conspiring with Death and the Empty on how to kill God." Dean takes a breath. "Not exactly sure how I'm supposed to focus on anything else at the moment."

"From my angle, you're taking everything pretty well from where I'm standing. I expected more yelling or general swearing." 

"Thanks, I guess," Dean, not knowing where this conversation would head, turned it back to the task at hand. "So how exactly am I suppose to do this. 

"As I said, intention matters, especially with magic; your thoughts need to be what you want to happen and then will it so. Jamie explains it like-"

"Wait, who's Jamie?" Dean cuts DJ off, and he watches as his son realizes he said something he hadn't meant to. His eyes go wide, and a slight blush spreads across his face. 

_'Oh, let the teasing begin.'_

"Jamie's another friend, dabbles with magic... anyway that's definitely not important, so anyway-"

"A friend, huh?"

"Yep." DJ looked like he desperately wanted this line of conversation to stop, and surprisingly Dean felt compelled to take pity on him, at least for now. 

"Okay, so what does this _friend say about how to do this? I've done about six of them, and none of them were particularly strong, and now I can't even get it to glow at all."_

_"You can't be passive when working magic. Sigils are like spell drawings; you need to be exacting on what you request. You can't assume that intentions are intuitive and clear; you need to focus on what you really, truly want. Think about the phrasing of what you want the sigil to accomplish and put emotion into it. Why is it that you want the sigil to work so badly."_

_"So, like peter pan, just think of some happy thoughts and move on."_

"I don't think that's the most effective analogy... but, if you're having trouble try sound boarding things out loud, it can help with the phrasing and make your thoughts make more sense; magic is all about making the connection and then establishing communication, it's not enough to just think of it, you need to maintain it."

"Okay, thanks kid, I'll call you back over if I still can't get it."

DJ just nods and walks towards the group of trees he was originally working on, but Dean didn't miss the hint of a smile on his face. 

Dean took a deep breath and thought deeply about what he wanted, even muttering keywords under his breath before starting to carve into the tree trunk again, only this one, when he was finished, glowed the brightest green of any of the sigils he'd done so far. 

The feeling of accomplishment only lasted a fleeting moment before Dean took a look around and the sheer number of trees they needed to complete in the next couple hours, so he got back to work. 

* * *

They take a rental car into town; Sam had lost the three rounds of rock paper scissors to determine who would drive, so he's sitting in the passenger seat like usually, only this time it's his niece driving the car. It shouldn't surprise Sam that Mation drives like Dean, but it does, but for him, it's also weird because her posture is a bit more like Cas in some ways. How she holds herself, and the squinting, his brain almost short-circuited when both she and Cas gave him the same look, they may not be biologically related. Still, she definitely is related to Cas in some capacity. He should probably ask more questions on how the hole Grace/Soul thing works. 

"Where should we start?" Cas asks from his regular seat in the back. He's been spending the drive so far, simply staring at Mation in the rearview mirror, examining her to some extent while she pretends not to notice. 

"We should probably-" Sam's cut off by Enter Sandman blasting from a cell phone. 

As Marion answers it while not taking her eyes off the road, Sam can't prevent himself from rolling his eyes at the song choice. 

_'Of course, they had the same taste in music. The greatest hits of mullet rock.'_ Sam thinks to himself, remembering when he and Dean started working together again. Had that really been 15 years ago now? Looking back at Marion, Sam can't stop his thoughts from drifting to other things Marion might have in common with Dean or with Cas for that matter. How much have they influenced their lives despite not actually being a part of it? Sam is lost in his thoughts that it takes him a moment to realize that someone is snapping fingers in from of his face. 

"Sam!" 

"What, sorry, I was distracted..."

"Obviously," Marion responds dryly. She rolls her eyes before continuing. "If you had been paying attention, you would have heard me explain that there has been a slight change of plans. There was, in fact, another attempted sacrifice last night."

"Attempted?" 

"The victim escaped, which means that the other's are going to have to go to the next location on the list since the one we figured out originally was used last night and is now compromised. However, our job just got easier."

"How so?" Cas asked, furrowing his eyebrows. 

"She was able to give a basic description, and while they can shapeshift, they only have one human-looking form. We're looking for a white man, late 20s to early 30's dark hair with a beard, with a tattoo of cancer and pieces symbols tattooed on either wrist."

"Well, that at least gives us some clue into who we should be looking for, but are you sure it will be the same Nakki hunting?"

"That's the beauty of them not being successful last night. They will hunt every night until they are successful before moving on to the next in line, except we're in luck because it was the leader that failed last night."

"Wait, how do you know?"

"The tattoos; only leaders have them, and they are always relevant to water, the sign for Cancer is a crab and Pisces is a fish, which also means that we need to find them because they will be finished their rituals after tonight and they will go underground again, figuratively," Marion explained expertly, a hint of a smile showing, it's always good when they catch a break in a case. 

\------------------------

They had made it through about half of the Christmas village at this point, and there was still so real sign of anyone matching the description given by last night's victim that also had tattoos. While they were walking, they engaged in fairly light conversation, or what passes for light conversation when Winchester's were involved. 

Sam was currently a few steps behind the other two and was discretely taking as many photos as possible without getting caught by his subjects. They don't have many photos, just a spattering over the years, something that Sam regrets because capturing the good times to have proof that they existed would be nice to have. His brother might be the one who suddenly had two new adult children, but Sam's the one that feels like he's entering into a midlife crisis, or maybe an end of life crisis, depending on what happens. 

"So, your brother is going to go meet a contact?" Sam asks when he sees an opening in the conversation. 

"James, yes." Sam has a funny feeling in his stomach at her tone, but is he just reading too much into it?

"And you've known him long enough?"

Marion hesitates before answering as if she's trying to choose her words, putting sam on edge carefully. 

"Me? No, we've interacted, but their DJ's friend and responsibility they get DJ the ingredients, objects or information we need if we can't get it ourselves."

"You don't trust them? Then why let them meet?" Cas asked, surprised. 

"I don't trust easy, but I haven't been given a reason not to if that's what you're asking. James's information is invaluable, and honestly, it's someone else that DJ can talk to, not exactly healthy when it's just us."

"If you're worried about it, why haven't you tried to. stop it?" Sam asks, trying to keep to judgemental tone out of his voice, reminding himself that he doesn't have the full picture here.

"Also, what do you mean by responsibility?" Cas adds, circling back to Marion's earlier statement. 

She sighs and turns to face both of them, stopping him and Cas in her tracks. 

"You of all people should know what there is a level of danger there no matter who the person is, especially when the supernatural is concerned; I think that my brother is reckless and falling though familiar traps which will only end with pain."

"But why-" Sam starts but is sharply cut off. 

"Because my brother is currently as happy as he could be given the circumstances of knowing that one of us is supposed to kill the other, given that we had to leave everything we knew in the other universe and come here when we knew that the universe that we grew up in would be destroyed and everyone we knew there would be dead, given that we genuinely had a pretty shitty childhood when you think about it, but that's just par for the course around here." 

Marion takes a breath to steady herself before continuing. "I'm not going to put my two cents into a situation when I don't have to, not when it is me who is ultimately sacrificed. I need him to continue to have something to live for, so if that means pretending nothing is going to blow up in his face when it comes to James, so be it."

Sam and Cas simply look at Marion, unsure how to respond to such a statement. Where the hell do they even start. 

"Why do you..." Cas trails off, unable to finish his question, but Marion fills in the blank on her own. 

"Because I don't have what DJ has, I don't have something nagging at me not to sacrifice myself, and don't start about the family thing, I've lost any shred of motivation or hope to try and maneuver out of what needs to happen after Chucks went people will be able to move on, I will fight to make sure my family is alive, but I won't find peace on earth, I'll find peace when the mission I was created for has come to pass and that requires me dead." The look on Marion's face is so painfully familiar that it genuinely feels like a punch to the gut to Sam. The look of resignment with underlying sorrow and simmering anger, the same look he saw on Dean's face three years ago, and again in the reality that Chuck showed him. Sam doesn't want to think about what that means. 

Sam sees the movement from the corner of his eye and turns just to see Cas falling forward, enveloping Marion in a hug, looking like it would probably be crushing her if she were just a normal human being. 

When Cas finally lets go, Sam sees that her eyes are wide, obviously not having expected the Angel to show emotion and to be honest, Sam's a little surprised as well, which he really shouldn't be. 

"We have already said this, but we are going to ensure that what you say doesn't have to happen." Cas's voice is firm, the intention of not allowing there to be an argument clear. 

Marion simply shakes her head and looks a bit worn down. "You have your own dealing to worry about, and we still have a bit of time, might as well make it worth it."

If Sam were focused on Cas at the time, he would have noticed the Angel going stiff at Marion's words. 

"Now, we came here with a job to do, and we still haven't made enough progress. Remember that I need to seduce the ring leader so we can kill them tonight." Marion's tone and demeanour did a 180, and suddenly she was back on case mode. 

Sam only grimaced, not wanting to think about his niece seducing anyone, monster or not. 

\-------------------------------

They were now browsing around the bakery market, separated but within sight of one another. Marion was just about to find Sam and Cas and call it quits when someone tries to get her attention. 

"Can I offer you a sample of our signature apple pie fudge?" A deep voice with a distinctive Nordic accent asks. Putting on a smile, Marion turns to face the gentleman.

"Of course, I've always been impartial when it comes to anything pie." Marion takes the piece from his outstretched hand and sees the pieces tattoo peeking out from his uniform. Bingo. 

"Well then, you are going to have to try our all of our pie varieties then, to figure out what one's the best, you know, for science." Gentle flirting, this is what she can deal with, just need to maintain his interest. 

"Well, you've twisted my arm now, haven't you." Marion pops the first sample into her mouth, it is actually quite good, but it is a monster that's given it to her. "That tastes exactly like pie; how'd you do that? It tastes like something out of Willy Wonka or perhaps Harry Potter. This has to be the best thing I've ever eaten!" Marion knows she's laying it on thick, but that's sort of the point. 

"Magic, but you flatter, there are numerous amazing bakers at this event."

"None as good as you."

"I don't believe I've seen you around before. Are you here just for the festival?"

Marion hums and nods her head as she tries the next sample. , 

"Christmas is my favourite time of year, family, the atmosphere, the mythology, to be cliche; I'll also say the Christmas spirit."

"Well, I get off later this evening. I'd be happy-" He pauses and looks at something behind her, and Mation curses in her head, careful not to show anything on her face. "I think your boyfriend may be glaring at me. I apologize."

Marion turns to see who he's referring to and sees Cas try to pretend he's not looking over at them is disapproval. 

_Incognito he is not._ Marion thinks to herself before scrambling to save the situation. 

Marion laughs as she turns back to the man, "That's my stepdad, he means no harm, not really, just a pain in my ass actually as he seems to think he always knows what's best when he has his own issues to figure out."

"Well, I should let you get back to them. I'll give you some fudge on the house-" Marion cuts him off before he could go any farther. 

"Please, just ignore him; I kind of what to know what you were going to say about this evening. I could use an excuse to get away from my family for a bit. Maybe I can convince you to give me your magical recipe." Marion subtly moves in a way to try and be as inviting as possible. Being a female hunter, you're bound to pick up some tricks. Men tend to be stupid. 

The man studies her for a moment after glancing back quickly over her shoulder. 

"I know of the most romantic spot just a little while from here, normally it's used for ice skating in the winter, but I've found it's a beautiful place for a picnic. I'd be honoured if you would join me, we could watch the sunset."

"Well, to be honest, that sounds exactly like something I need." 

"Where should I pick you up then?" He asks as he lays his hand on her arm; she's careful to lean into the touch and not flinch away."

"My family and I are at the Christmas Village Lodge; everyone else will be gone for dinner and the Christmas concert later, so you don't need to worry about anyone. Pick me up around six six-thirty."

"I'll be there." His voice went deeper, and for a second, his eyes change, but she's careful not to react to it. Instead, she reaches up and brings her lips to his. It's not heated or anything, but hopefully, it's enough to convince him that nothing is out of place.

"Just a promise for later." As they break apart, she says she gives him a final smile and turns and walks away in the opposite direction. 

* * *

***A couple of days earlier***

Billie took a quick look at what the Winchester's were up to; they seemingly weren't up to anything nefarious of earth-shattering. At least she couldn't decern anything from the couple hours she hovered between the planes, ensuring that not even Jack would notice her presence. 

She was glad to see, however, that they all seemed to be getting along fairly well. It appears that the brothers had forgiven Jack for Mary's death, or at least were willing to move past it, which is the ideal situation. Turmoil within their little team, does not bode well for the final plan to actually work against God. 

Before she leaves, she casts a fleeting look at Castiel. While he may be millennia old, his posture and overall demeanour make him look much older, like his vessel is failing, and with his waning grace, she supposes it is. He did kill her, the cosmic consequence, of course, her becoming Death, so in a way, she ought to thank him, but Castiel's happiness isn't really her problem; it's the empty's.

With a final look, Billie disappears, willing herself to Amara's present location because if anything disrupts the plan for finally destroying god, there will be hell to pay until the world ceases to exist. 

She shouldn't be surprised by the luxury in which she finds Amara, a penthouse suite, and Amara simply looks up from where she was watching TV.

"Care to join me, Billie?"

Billie narrows her eyes and just stalks forward towards Amara, anger oozing out of her as she does so.

"What. Did. You. Do?"

"Now I haven't the faintest idea what you are referring to Billie, I've been alone in this penthouse for ages now, actually I've become a bit bored with it but until my brother's disposed of I suppose it is the safest place for me to be."

"I'm talking about the interference, and you are jeopardizing the plan against your brother, how the hell you think I wouldn't notice books being added to my library, how you think you can get away with creating-" Billie had started in on her rant but was abruptly cut off.

"Stop talking."

"Oh, so now I've jogged your memory, now I'll ask again. What. Did. You. Do?"

"Oh, I have no idea."

"Amara."

"No, with this, I am telling the truth; I don't have any idea what you're talking about and by design. What I can tell you is that I did orchestrate a plan to help destroy my brother, but I have no memory of it."

"How?"

"Obviously, I had my memory erased, strong magic that, probably more than the average witch."

"Why." Billie's voice was sharp like it could cut through glass, not finding Amara's stalling amusing.

"Plausible deniability, of course."

Billie simply quirked her eyebrow, and Amara signed in response. 

"Seriously, my brother and I are still connected in some capacity, and while I've blocked him successfully, for now, I have no way of knowing how long that will last. The memory thing was a safeguard; all I have is a note saying that I've put a plan into action and that I should prevent anyone from revealing what I did."

"In case God comes and tries to get you on his side again, that way, even if he does try to look, there isn't anything to see."

"Exactly."

"Do you understand that you may have single-handedly compromised the integrity of the plan that was already in motion? That you may have, in fact, just handed your brother the win?

"No... because what I do remember was that your plan wasn't enough; it wasn't enough to catch him off his game; the plays are not out of the realm of imagination from what I gathered. You needed something else..." Amara paused, training her gaze to be as intimidating as possible.

"Billie, you may be Death now, you may understand everything in theory going back to the creation of Death itself, but you don't have much practice. You are going to need every distraction, every weapon, every person you can get your hands on to finally allow this world to be at peace, to be paradise." 

Billie just returns Amara's look with her own icy glare. 

"I can't tell you what to do, you could choose to destroy or put an end to whatever I've started, but the anger you are extruding seems to indicate that is no longer an option. If it were, you would have probably done it already. Or, you still can't access what I've done, and by the time you do, it would be too late, and interfering with my addition to plan to kill my brother will, in fact, result in my brother winning."

"I can fit a couple of the pieces together on my own, but I'm still blocked when trying to figure out the rest, although I imagine by the end of the week I'll have more concrete answers... I feel like now would be a good time to remind you that you cannot cheat death, and there are consequences for actions."

"Like Dominos?" Amara rolled her eyes. "People may not be able to cheat death, but they can change their own path, while there may be cataclysmic events that cannot be changed, it's the subtle choices one makes that truly makes a difference, the butterfly effect applies here...." Another pause. "I'm not sure what I did, but I will tell you one thing, I was fundamentally wrong about Dean Winchester, and my misjudgement caused a lot of grief. I heed you not to make the same mistake, or to overlook anything, or rather more importantly... anyone."

* * *

"Hey, where's DJ?" Sam asks after walking back into the living room, having packed all unnecessary items back in his bag if the need for a quick getaway later is needed. 

They hadn't actually had any time to talk to each other about the two new editions to their lives, really both of them were still processing, and there is so much still left unsaid.

Continuing to clean their weapons, Dean only briefly glances up before returning to his task. "He left about ten minutes ago to go meet up with this James person to grab the rest of what we need to kill the things tonight."

Dean sees Sam sit down at the table in his periphery, and his brother's fighting doesn't go unnoticed. 

"What?" 

"It's just that... well, Cas and I were talking to Marion, and we don't think that DJ is meeting someone named James." Sam's tone was wary as if he was afraid to go further. 

"Huh?"

Dean stops cleaning the gun he's working on to look at Sam's face, noticing the hint of worry there as something significant. 

"Where's this coming from? What did Marion say to you that has you all freaked out?"

"She started talking in a roundabout way when Cas starting inquiring about this James person; I don't think James actually exists."

Dean takes in this information and thinks back to what he talked about with DJ while preparing stuff earlier. "Huh, maybe it's a cover to go see his girlfriend or something." Dean relaxes a bit, and he thinks that Sam is blowing things a little out of proportion. 

"Wait, what girlfriend?" 

"He told me earlier that he was seeing someone, well I guess he didn't say he was dating her, but it was alluded to, he was blushing, was a little shy about it but to be honest this entire situation is bizarre, I just think he didn't want to talk to the dad he doesn't know about his love life. Although the James thing does seem like a front now that I think about it since it slipped out that the girl's name was Jamie." Dean shrugged and was about to continue preparing the weapons, but Sam's face has him stopping. 

Sam's face goes through many contortions and settles for something that is a mix of apprehension and worry that has Dean's face turning into a frown. 

"Sam, just spit it out."

"Marion was definitely trying to hide something about the person that DJ's meeting; it was alluded to that he was getting into something dangerous and that his impulsiveness was going to get him into trouble or killed. She said some other stuff about him having something to live for but not being sure if that something was going to hurt him. It seemed like it was more than just a basic girlfriend issue."

"Get to the point."

"She also mentioned that she and DJ had ended up making some of the same mistakes we have over the years, so Cas and I were discussing this when we had a minute alone. Cas brought up that maybe DJ's involved in something similar to what I was with Ruby during the original apocalypse. What if he's meeting some Demon or monster that somehow got into his head? He's only 19. Teenagers do stupid shit." Sam flinched at the mention of Ruby, the memories of what transpired a decade aren't exactly pleasant for either of them. 

"I think we've learned our lesson that not all monsters are evil, life isn't black and white... but given our luck and track record, I see Cas' point. So what do you want us to do about it? Confronting him about it isn't going to help."

"I bugged the motorcycle that he took off on, Cas is somehow distracting Marion and Jack for the time being, and they've been given the story that we have some last-minute things we just want to check out."

"You want us to follow DJ, and what put a stop to it right then and there."

"I want to know what we're dealing with, and then we can play it by ear. I don't want history repeating itself."

Putting the final gun down on the table, Dean looks at his brother right in the eye, new-found determination on his face.

"Let's go then."

\-------------------

The brothers now sitting in a car they hotwired, in a parking lot of a super 8 that is just over an hour from the lodge's location, are getting bored. They have been sitting there now for half an hour, basically treating this as a stakeout as they got to the super 8 just in time to see DJ walking out of the main office with a key in his hand.

They were watching from a safe distance obscured by some other car's but had a good view of DJ simply leaning against his motorcycle and doing something on his phone, looking completely at ease. 

Sam was in the passenger seat, looking like he was ready to bolt out of the car any second to confront whoever or whatever approaches the teenager. Still, Dean was a little antsy, not liking that he's basically on a stakeout with his son as the target. 

The forty-minute mark passes, and at this point, the brothers are starting to think maybe DJ's been stood up, but the teenager still looks unbothered, unmoving from his position against the motorcycle that, if Dean was honest, was a little jealous of. John had always been venomously against motorcycles since they came with unnecessary risk, something hunters don't need on top of the basic danger of being a hunter. 

Honestly, Dean should probably be against his son riding a motorcycle, his son, that's still going to take some getting used to. But, he doesn't even really know much about them, and the last thing he needs to do is start spouting of rules like he's some kind of authority. He doesn't want to be John. 

Finally, there is a rumble of another car turning into the parking lot, which parks a couple of spaces down from where DJ was. The brothers have now tensed up in anticipation as they watch the engine gets turned off, and then the door opens. 

Instead of the super suave demon lady that they were expecting, a young man gets out of the car; he looked like the kid from the live-action Pokemon movie that Dean watched with Jack on Netflix. But the kid in front of him was a bit younger, maybe 18, maybe 19 years old. 

Not what he was expecting, the young kid pulled out a bag from the back of the car and threw it over his shoulder before turning and approaching DJ. Maybe they overreacted, and this was just another hunter. DJ's face was unmoved as the other kid approached but did pull a couple of items out of the motorcycle's side bag. A flask and a silver knife, James he supposes looks almost amused at the items but takes them willingly, taking a swig from the flask presumably laced with holy water before rolling up his sleeve and making a small cut. 

Dean and Sam just look on dumbfounded; this was not what they were expecting at all. Except when James finishes with the blade and hands the items back to DJ, DJ's, for lack of a better description, lights up. The brothers couldn't see all that well from this far away but could tell DJ's face split into a grin, and then the brothers were paralyzed as they watch DJ lean down and kiss James. And not in a way that was over the top or lust-driven but something softer, with more emotions behind it, like both parties were afraid the other was going to disappear.

There was dead silence in the car. The brother's just trying to process what was happening in front of them; they eventually both let do of the door handles they had in a vice grip and just sat back in their seats, watching the scene with wide eyes. 

"I don't think he was lying about James... but... I think James and Jamie may be the same person." Dean was just in a state of shock because of all the things he was worried about or the possibilities he thought of on the way here; this was not one of them. 

Suddenly sam started chuckling and shaking his head, and Dean tilts towards him, but his eyes don't leave the two teenagers in the parking lot. 

"The kid was a bit shifty about his relationship, and we immediately think monster, when in reality he was just hiding the fact he has a boyfriend." There is humour there, somewhere in that statement, but Dean's mind is still focused on the fact his son looks carefree. There was a look in his eyes, happiness that Dean doesn't think he's ever actually experienced, at least not in a real way. 

"We shouldn't be here."

"Huh, what." Sam was still chuckling to himself.

"I'm assuming they didn't get a room just to go over the aspects of the case." Dean just shoots his brother a look, and understanding immediately crosses his face, which turns into an uncomfortable grimace just as quickly. 

"Right... ya, we should go; I don't want to be stuck having an uncomfortable conversation with my nephew or watching you have to try and do that; it's not like we have a good frame of reference anyway dad just handed us porno mags and condoms and told us not to get anyone pregnant, well I guess we at least don't have to worry about DJ doing that..." Sam trails off looking like he wants to start laughing again. 

"Ok, that's enough; I'm totally done with this conversation. Let's get back to the lodge where I can hopefully forget that this little road trip ever took place." Dean starts the ignition and peels out of the parking lot. Hopefully, DJ was too preoccupied to think anything of it. 

Dean's brain was providing him with all kinds of comments and questions, none of which he really wants to focus on. He felt slightly uncomfortable; he didn't care that his son was gay, being more worried about being attached to someone romantically in general, or how much of a target he would be too old school hunters. This was the same situation of finding out about Charlie or Jesse and Cesar. Yet, it's different because it's his son, and there was this nagging feeling deep in his gut when he saw them kissing, seeing someone that looks so much like himself, and Dean really didn't want to examine why that was. 

Sometime later, as they were almost back to the lodge, Sam decided to break the silence that had overtaken the 'borrowed' car. Sam clears his throat, and Dean flicks his eyes towards him, not liking the smirk playing on his lips. 

"So... do you think it would be Jean, Dames, Damie, maybe just JamesDean, oh or DJames, you know like Destiel or Cas Dean." Sam, the fucker just grins and looks really proud of himself while Dean just grips the steering wheel so tight his knuckles go white. 

"Shut the fuck up, Sammy."

* * *

They were all now in place according to the plan that they had agreed upon. Dean, Sam, Cas, DJ, and Jack were spread out around the perimeter, hidden up in the trees. They were now just waiting for Marion to show up with the Nakki, and there was no telling exactly when that would be; in theory, they should be here around seven seven-thirty, but who knows? 

Dean was agitated; he didn't like this plan, never liking plans when it's other people that are used as bait. As a rule, he prefers it to be himself on the line, but now he has his daughter in the crosshairs. He wonders if it will ever feel normal to acknowledge the fact he has a daughter. 

They've now been waiting for a little over an hour though Dean is glad that they are all separating because it prevents any more backward conversations in the meantime. Sam, of course, had gleefully filled Cas in about the whole situation with DJ much to Dean's embarrassment and annoyance, and Cas had the gull to be amused at the situation. Cas also found it amusing that they immediately went to the worst-case scenario, and all that was 'wrong' was that the kid was in love, Cas' words, not Dean's. 

To make things worse, it seems Marion knew what her brother had been up to because she was all telling looks when DJ got back; though she did try to hide her reactions, she basically has his face, so it's not hard to read it. He also had to school his features not to blush or react in any way when he noticed a hickey poking out from under the collar of DJ's shirt. He DID NOT want to think about how that got there, not at all. 

Though he also didn't want to think about his daughter having to get up close and personal with the monster that their hunting, how the hell did he get into this situation again?

Dean is thankfully taken out of his thoughts by the sounds of twigs snapping as a fair of footsteps draw closer. Perhaps Sam was right to locate him the furthest away from where they would be arriving because he already wanted to shoot the thing. Marion was holding hands with the monster and smiling up at them while they walked forward. Dean watched them intently, waiting for their signal. 

He watched as they put the baskets they were carrying on the ground; it was obvious that they were talking and, in Marion's case at least flirting, though he was thankfully far enough away that he couldn't make out what they were saying. His grip on the stone in his hand tightened as he witnessed the Nakki lead Marion into the water after stripping down to their underwear; he's not exactly sure where she's supposed to have a weapon kept. He sees the two of them move waist-deep into the water, and then as the monster leans down to kiss Marion, Marion takes the opportunity while the Nakki is distracted from reaching up to her bun and pulled out the hairpin. 

_'Smart'_ Dean thinks as he watches her stab the Nakki first in the neck and then through the heart. 

The monster lets out a blood-curdling wail, and all of a sudden, there isn't just one monster in the water dozens start to pop up. Dean throws the rock he was holding into the water and sees everyone else the same. 

The Nakki's are slowed down, but they are still moving towards Marion, but Dean hears Sam, DJ, and Jack start the incantation. 

"Desk-end-ee-moose ab eye-ray

oot ask-end-at et desk-end-at

mow-toos int-air do-oss

no-ah in-went-ah in loo-kem

in-seeg-neh corp-us

ex ell-em-ent-ees

none est ack-ee-dense

moon-duss in men-sah

may-ah air-ant

meesk-air-eh cum"

When they finished chanting Dean started shooting, as did DJ and Sam. Meanwhile, he watched as Cas and Jack jumped down to start stabbing the Nakki they were able to reach. It took them about five minutes in total to kill them all, and when the shooting stopped, the only sound was the heavy breathing of the six people still alive. 

Dean climbs down from the tree he was in and walks toward where Marion was now located, as did everyone else. As Marion put her outer clothes back on, there was a weird atmosphere in the air. All in all, the end of the hunt was satisfactory but compared to everything else that happened over the last couple of days also feels anti-climatic. 

"So, we might want to get out of here before anyone sees us," Sam says as he rubs the back of his head. "I don't think we're going to be able to clean this mess up in a timely fashion effectively."

Dean nodded in agreement but turns to the kids. "We're headed to the bunker; you're coming too?" He says it open-ended in case they've changed their mind at any point. 

"Ya, we're coming," They answered in unison, both showcasing a small smile, which causes the knot that's been in Dean's stomach to disappear. 

"Though we're going to need to pick up our car from downtown, it's blasphemy that we've left it as long as we have."

"Your car?" Dean questioned, turning his attention to Marion. 

"Oh ya, you're going to be a jealous old man." She teases as she threw the picnic basket she was carrying earlier at him. "I may have picked up some pie on the way here though, might soften the blow as you realize that 'baby' is not, in fact, the best car. 

"Nobody disrespects Baby," Dean said, completely serious, but there was amusement in his eyes. Sam and Jack were also chuckling and snickering in amusement while Cas just looks on with a hint of a smile. 

And like that, Dean felt a little bit lighter, at least at that moment. 

* * *

Billie observes as the four humans, the angel and the Nephilim pack their respective cars. Interestingly now that they are all acting carefree, at least to an extent, they have their guard down, which is not a good thing but the reality of the two new humans that she can only assume are Winchester's based on their appearance intrigues her. 

She's not exactly sure what Amara was alluding to earlier but mark her words, she will find out. Billie contemplates whether she should simply reveal herself now and demand answers, but she recognizes that it is doubtful to get her anywhere. 

_Not yet, but soon, everyone pays their dues._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I just make Dean's son queer before Dean figures out his feelings about Cas? Yes. There are obvious parallels between the couples and I'll be tackling another issue in another way, some of you may be able to guess based on the hints in this and previous chapters.   
> As always I live for comments, critiques etc, I'm in the process of editing the previous 6 chapters for readability but no major changes will be made.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first real fic in about 10 years so feedback, speculations, and comments of support are always welcome!


End file.
